Hard Rain
by aussieokie
Summary: Ressler and Keen are on a mission with Reddington and Dembe two hours from Washington DC, up in the mountains. The odds become stacked against them as their situation worsens as a rain storm bears down on them, threatening their very lives! And yes, it's unashamedly Keenler, with lots of Ressler pain and suffering - because he looks so darned good suffering! :-)
1. Chapter 1 - Storm Warning

Donald Ressler was getting impatient with his partner. Two hours out from the Post Office, Liz Keen had announced she needed to 'get ready' for this mission once they got to the gas station up ahead of them. Get ready? Hell, we've been getting ready for a week, he thought.

They were travelling in their unmarked surveillance van, with Red and Dembe 'somewhere' up ahead. Probably in Harrisonburg by now, thought Ressler. Ten minutes later they pulled into the gas station on the outskirts of Harrisonburg, with the mountains rising out of the morning mist to the north of them. They saw Red and Dembe's vehicle, already at the pre-arranged staging point.

"What do you need to 'get ready'? We don't have a lot of time here." Ressler asked her, trying his very best not to sound annoyed.

Liz looked at him almost shyly, he thought. "Um, just need to get some supplies. Snacks and the like..." she said vaguely.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Don't be too long." and she nodded as she climbed out of the van, and headed into the quick stop.

Pulling up to the pump, he got out to fill the van. No one would see him as an FBI agent, dressed in jeans, hiking boots and a jacket that hid the bullet proof vest over his clothing underneath. He nodded to an elderly man who was pumping gas at the pump beside him. The man returned the nod, and asked Ressler where he was headed.

"Just here and there, thought we might take in some hiking and maybe some fishing." he said, being deliberately vague.

"Be careful out there son, there's a gully washer a comin'." the old guy told him, and Ressler nodded his thanks. There wasn't a cloud in the sky he noted, looking up.

After filling the van, he pulled up to the parking area in front of the store, waiting for Liz.

His thoughts inevitably returned to their mission. Starting with the initial briefing from Red, who had first introduced them to the Cole family; twins, Jessie and Jacob, and younger brother Jeremy. Three All American boys who had now turned on their own country. The fact that the information was coming to them from someone who had also turned his back on his own country wasn't lost on Ressler. He was having that familiar internal argument with himself. The one that had started the day Reddington gave himself up, and continued every time they received a new case from the man. The argument that went something along the lines of 'Reddington is a traitor. But he's giving us worse traitors, so I guess that makes it okay. Doesn't it?"

But the fact remained that several hours of briefings, research and field work over the ensuing week had only established three basic facts regarding this latest case: 1. The Cole boys had a weaponized airborne virus of 'some sort'. 2. They were going to disperse it 'in a large city'. 3. It was going to take place 'in the next few days'.

Those three facts were alarming, yet utterly useless without details. And that was putting it mildly. It was just enough information to be infuriatingly incomplete. Ressler didn't like things to be incomplete. He liked them spelled out plainly, something that was becoming increasingly harder to come by the longer he worked with Raymond Reddington, he noted. He longed for the good old days. Days that didn't involve planning missions with Number 4 on the FBI's Most Wanted list.

His thoughts were interrupted by the man himself climbing into the passenger seat so recently vacated by Liz. Bundled up in his coat, he rubbed his hands together against the brisk morning air. Red looked sideways at Ressler, noting the agent's dour expression. Well, Ressler usually looked like that, so that was nothing new to Red.

"Donald, why the frown?"

Oh, I don't know, thought Ressler, only a million things could go wrong on this mission. We're heading into the wilderness, with only one road, no backup, no air support, no radio, spotty cell signal, just he and his partner, plus Number 4 (who very likely had his own agenda in all this). What could he possibly have to frown about, right?

He turned to look at Red, who was regarding him with that smug expression that seemed permanently etched on Reddington's features. Ressler really disliked that look. It reminded him of the fact that he had failed to capture this man. That Red was here under his own terms, whether Ressler liked it or not. And the fact that Donald didn't like it seemed to make it all the more entertaining for Red.

Ressler ignored Red's remark, and got down to business. "Let's go over this again. Once you get the information from Cole..."

"We're all aware of what we need to do here, Agent Ressler." Red interrupted him. When he called him 'Agent Ressler', that was Red's way of demeaning his position. Of putting him down and belittling what Ressler was good at. Damn the man. He had this way of making him feel like a schoolboy in the presence of the principal, and Ressler detested that. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes for a second, and continued trying to go over this with the criminal.

"When we get what we need from Cole, we'll be watching for you to exit the cabin. We'll wait for you to clear the area before we move in. And if you don't ...or can't... move out quick enough, I'm arresting you along with Cole, maintaining your cover."

"Yes, Donald." intoned Red, humoring the agent now.

Ressler gave up. He was well aware Red knew the plan. In all honesty, he was going over it for his own peace of mind. And where the hell was Keen?!

"Donald, we can't be seen chit chatting here for very long, but I will tell you this. I can't change this meeting time. Believe me, I tried. So whatever you're going to do, do it fast. There's a storm coming." Red looked up at the sky, indicating the building clouds on the horizon. Ressler turned to look in that direction, not seeing anything all that ominous. First the old guy, and now Reddington.

Raymond Reddington had developed a great many skills in his lifetime. Granted, most of them in the last two decades involved conniving his way from one criminal enterprise to another, collecting resources, names and people in the way that others might collect recipes. But one skill had been borne of years on the water, learning as a young man how to read the ocean currents and what the sky and clouds foretold. Becoming one with the ocean with the feel of the wind on his face, Reddington could read weather. He'd once asked Ressler 'have you ever sailed across an ocean...' to which the younger man had answered 'no'. Pity, thought Red, because if he had, the FBI agent would have known that those clouds on the horizon were bad news. And that bad news was heading in their direction.

"I don't intend for this to take long. We'll get in, get done and off that mountain before dark." Ressler informed him, checking his watch again. He didn't have time for cloud watching. They had to get up that mountain, stake out the cabin, wait for the signal from Red and get in and out fast before Cole's buddies showed up. And if Keen didn't hurry up, he'd be leaving without her, he thought, looking at his watch yet again. He was just antzy though, he knew that. They had hours, but he just wanted to be in position.

"Keep an eye on the weather." said Red, reaching for the door handle to exit the vehicle.

Ressler pursed his lips, and held up his iPhone to Red. "Don't have to. I have an app for that." he told the man, dismissing his concerns and smiling smugly at the criminal.

Red turned to him with thinly veiled disdain. "You know what you can do with your app, Donald." And with that Red climbed out of the van, tugging his hat on his head as he walked over to where Dembe was waiting for him at their vehicle.

Keen finally came out of the store, much to Ressler's relief, carrying two plastic sacks full of ...stuff. She saw Red and Dembe, but didn't acknowledge them openly. This was supposed to be a covert operation, after all.

"Good gosh Liz, did you buy half the store?" Ressler eyed her as she got back in the van, watching her load the bags into her back pack. Well, she's the one who has to carry the stuff, he thought. She gave him 'the look' so he shut up as she put her seat belt on.

"Let's get out of here. We're burning daylight." He'd heard that in a movie he watched the other night, and liked the sound of it. Though John Wayne sounded much cooler when he said it.

Liz looked at him, noting the impatience and clenched teeth. He was uneasy, and that made her a little nervous too. She didn't like it when he wasn't sure of things. She remembered something then.

"Guy in the store said it's going to rain bad. Said he knows because the squirrels told him." She smiled at that, waiting to see Ressler's reaction.

He didn't disappoint. He turned to her looking confused.

"He said they gather up more food stores before a storm." She clarified, watching him shake his head, turning his eyes back to the road.

Just great, thought Ressler. Now even the local rodents are telling me a storm is coming.

###

Their route took them North West, heading through the town of Harrisonburg. Leaving the town behind them, they crossed a bridge over a small river, and started their drive up the mountain. The sparse trees in town gave way to a thicker forest almost as soon as they started their ascent. Liz found the view rather desolate. She had to admit, she was a city girl at heart. Ressler actually liked it. He'd grown up in an area similar to this and spent a lot of time at his parents' cabin in Prince George's county.

Though now that cabin brought back other memories... While not actually in the grounds of his parents' cabin, he'd been very close to it when he'd faced Jonica in the snow. After Audrey. He sucked his breath in and swallowed hard. Keep your mind on the task at hand here.

Liz looked over at him quickly, noting the change in his expression. "What...?"

He shook his head, glanced at her, but didn't say anything. She knew what it was now though, looking at the narrow road, with trees on either side. There was no snow on the ground now, just lush trees and undergrowth, but she knew him well enough to know where his mind had taken him.

"How far is it?" she asked, helping him get his mind back on the case, knowing he'd studied the map in detail. She liked how thorough he was in things like that. Leaving nothing to chance, he would scout out an area, either by driving through it, studying it, even looking on Google maps when no other options were available.

"It's about 4 miles up the mountain, almost at the summit. The road climbs steadily, then takes a dip around an outcrop of rocks, then continues climbing up to the cabin." He replied, his mind fully on the job at hand again. There had been a grainy image of their destination during one of the briefings, and he'd scanned the photo and kept it on his phone. He would know the place as soon as he saw it. Their task at hand was to drive past the cabin, and position themselves on a fire access road immediately above the cabin, out of view in the trees. From their position they would hear the conversation inside the cabin when Reddington got there for his meeting with Jacob Cole. Red was offering his services to the Cole boys to get them out of the country after the job. For him to do that, he'd need to know the location and timing in order to arrange transportation. Once they had that, the plan was to raid the cabin, arresting Cole as well as Red, maintaining his cover. Red wouldn't be there for a few hours yet. Yes, they were way early, but Ressler had wanted to be well in position before the meeting took place.

Sounds simple enough, he thought. What could possibly go wrong? A million things...he reminded himself worriedly.

Their dark green van wound its way up the mountain on a road that was well paved and not too narrow. The sun was shining, casting linear shadows across the road as they drove beneath the tall trees. The morning fog had all but burnt off now, and it was turning out to be a pleasant morning. Not a storm in sight, he mused. Remembering the old guy at the gas station, Ressler almost wished they really were up here to do a spot of fishing and hiking. It was a good day for it.

The road began to turn to the right, and sure enough, there was the rocky outcrop that Ressler had mentioned. It rose above the road, a cliff face about 30 feet high on the driver's side, and a slope downward on the other side. Making their way around it, the road then headed upwards again, slowly turning left, the rock cliffs now a quarter of a mile or so below them. At length, they came to a paved driveway leading up between the trees, revealing a wooden cabin sitting quietly among the trees at the end of the driveway. They slowed, but didn't stop, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Both glanced at each other, knowing that was their target for the day. Ressler continued past the driveway, the cabin dropping out of sight behind them now.

"The fire road should be right... about... here." Sure enough, there it was to their left and he swung in, pleased to see the thick underbrush that would conceal their van. Driving in about the length of a football field he pulled a little way off the road and stopped. All they could see were trees and thick brush around them, as the fire road continued upwards toward the lookout tower at the summit above them.

"Well, this is our view for the next few hours, Liz." He felt a little better, now that they were finally here and in position.

"Such a lovely spot for a picnic, thanks." She smiled. If she had to spend the next few hours on this mountain, most of it cooped up in this van, she was very glad it was with Ressler.

He chuckled, looking at her, then climbed out to survey the scene. She followed him and they walked silently, feeling the urge to stoop down, even though no one could possibly see them up here. At length they found a small opening between the trees, and found themselves in a perfect position above the cabin. From this vantage point, they couldn't see much more than the roof and back of the house. They knew from the photo and what they'd briefly seen from the road that it was a two storey building, and rather a good size. The area around the cabin was grassed, and it had been mowed recently. Two small outer buildings sat away from the main building, big enough to house a couple of vehicles easily in each.

Aware their voices could carry, they spoke in hushed tones. "I wonder if they're in there yet." Liz said.

"Not sure. But we'll find out soon enough. This will work perfectly though." They rose then, carefully making their way back to the van. She walked beside him, feeling the brisk morning air on her cheeks. It wasn't real cold, but the air definitely had a bite to it at this higher elevation. She glanced over at him, suddenly struck by something. He was wearing the same black jacket he'd worn that day in the snow with Jonica... He'd unzipped it now, revealing his vest and dark t-shirt under it, above his dark jeans. He looks the same as that day... she thought. Now she looked at his features though. No, definitely not the same. Today he was confident, mind set on their task at hand, eyes sharp and focused. She smiled a little then, looking down at the dirt road as they approached the van.

"Something on your mind, Liz?" he asked, not looking at her, but seeing her smile out the corner of his eye.

"Nothing at all, Ress." she smiled, as they stopped at the back of the van while he unlocked the rear doors. He wasn't too convinced of that.

The doors opened, revealing a full surveillance unit, complete with satellite receivers, video monitors and sound feeds. They quickly entered, closing the doors behind them.

"We'll need to set up the camera so we have eyes on the cabin and out buildings." He said, opening up a small case containing several small cameras in waterproof casings. He didn't want to risk having a wireless feed from the camera to the van, in case it was intercepted, so pulled out a long reel of cable. Gathering up the small case, reel, and a tripod, they exited the van again and made their way back to the small opening they'd looked through earlier.

It didn't take long to set up the camera. It looked tiny, perched on top of the tripod. It always amazed Ressler how much these tiny things picked up, and the resolution they produced. Satisfied with the view, they weighed the tripod down with a rock so it couldn't topple, and concealed it pretty well in the underbrush. Walking back to the van, they strung out the cable in the grass as they walked. You'd never know it was even there. Well, unless you saw the van, of course, he thought dubiously.

He connected the cable to the inputs on the van, and once more inside, they were greeted with a good view of the cabin grounds. They didn't have a view of the front door, but they could clearly see anyone arriving and leaving down the drive way. He looked at his watch, and saw that it was 10:15am. Red wasn't due to meet with Cole until 2:00pm. Back at the Post Office, wanting to get in position hours ahead of time had seemed like such a good plan. Now, faced with a four hour wait in front of them, he wasn't so sure.

"I'm going to run a second camera. I don't like feeling blind in here." he told her, rummaging through the little case of cameras again. He found one and attached a clip to it, so that it didn't need a tripod. Opening the back doors again, he stood on the tailgate and reached up, clipping the camera to the luggage rack before running the cable to the van inputs. Now he felt better, with eyes on the road behind them. He closed the doors to the van again, satisfied with the two images on their monitors now.

###

Liz stood up and reached through the small door that separated the driver and passenger seats from the rear of the van. Retrieving her backpack, she dragged it through the opening. It was heavy, but then she had got rather a lot of goodies at the gas station.

He had one eye on the monitor in front of him and one eye on her. "What the heck have you got in there?"

"Snacks. Gotta have snacks on a stakeout." she grinned.

"What goes in must come out, and I for one really don't want to designate his and hers trees to pee behind." he said knowingly.

"Suit yourself," she grinned, pulling an apple and a bottle of water out the backpack, "but it's here if you want something later."

He nodded, pulling off his jacket and settling back in his chair. If he looked at the feed from the cabin long enough and hard enough, perhaps something might happen. Liz was also watching it on her monitor, when a memory popped into her head. She dropped her eyes and looked down, smiling. Looking over at his bemused look, she asked him if he remembered their first stake out together.

He nodded, rolling his eyes at that. "How could I forget," he said. "You're not going to profile me again... are you?" he asked her warily.

"You want me to?" she teased, laughing as he held up his hands, shaking his head to keep her profiling voodoo away from him.

His smile faded then though, and she watched him change. "Your profile was right back then... but not so much now Liz..." he said quietly. He looked at her as she met his eyes. "I'm not such a Boy Scout anymore... and the worst part is, I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing." He looked down now, biting his bottom lip, a distant look in his eyes.

She reached up and touched his shoulder in friendship. "We all change through circumstance...and Lord knows, we've both had major changes in our lives... major losses..." She said gently, dropping her hand. Life had not been easy for either of them the past few weeks, and Liz knew they had both changed.

"And we learn to roll with the punches, right?" he said, looking up at her again, half smiling, the glow from the monitors making his eyes shine a bright blue.

She nodded, smiling back at him again. "Something like that, yes." She would like to think she had toughened up, but then when she woke in the middle of the night, heart hammering in her chest from bad dreams, she wasn't so sure.

He looked away then, back at the monitors, thinking he saw something. But it was just a change in the light as a cloud moved overhead.

She was still watching him, thinking about the changes in their lives. "And Ress... You'll always be my Boy Scout." she smiled.

He looked sideways at her then, and smiled. It was the same smile he'd greeted her with when she went to his apartment after Red had told her about Sam... It was what she had since dubbed his "I'm not sure what's happening, but I'll go with it because, darn it Liz, I trust you" smile.

He was still looking at her when they heard something on the van. A pattering sound on the roof. They both looked up, then across at each other as the sound increased.

It was raining. Huge drops were now hitting the van and darkening the view on their camera feed. Even as they listened, it increased, settling into a steady thrum on the roof above them. The rain that Red and the old man had warned him about had started, and he hadn't even noticed it coming.

He closed his eyes, groaning as he listened to the rain. "Damn squirrels."

And at that she lost it completely, laughing until she almost cried.

###

Ressler always thought that four hours fell perfectly into his Goldilocks "just right" time frame. Not too short that you miss something, and not too long that things drag on. Just the right amount of time. But four hours sitting in the back of a van, with barely enough room to swing one's arms (if one had a desire to) was really putting his Goldilocks rule to the test today. He'd never really thought of himself as claustrophobic. Having sat in the back of vans like this numerous times over the years, he usually found them rather... "homely" in an odd sort of way.

Usually.

Not today.

The sound of the rain pounding on the van non-stop for the past three plus hours was fraying his nerves. The effect it was having on the cameras was negligible, tucked safely in their waterproof housings. They were sending pictures back to them like little troopers, but the images were getting difficult to distinguish through the heavy rain. They didn't 'think' anyone had arrived at the cabin yet. That didn't mean someone wasn't already in the cabin though. In the four hours they'd been watching they had not seen any sign of life.

The view from the rear facing camera was worrying them. The sheer volume of rain was alarming, causing two small rivers to run down each side of the road. For now, the center of the road was still fairly clear, but he really wondered how much longer that would be the case. They opened the small door between the back of the van and the front, watching the rain pouring down.

And right at the point where he was sure they'd need to get out of here for their own safety, almost positive the meeting wouldn't take place in this, there was movement on the cabin camera. Red's car had just pulled up outside the cabin. They leaned forward, each unaware they were holding their breaths as they slipped their headphones on, almost surprised to finally see some movement down there. Red stayed in the car. Ressler didn't blame him. No point getting out in this unless it was absolutely necessary. Red was wired, and after a moment they heard his voice as his mic came online.

"As I'm sure you've seen, we're here. Cole hasn't come out of the cabin yet. Though in this rain, one can hardly blame him." His voice was fairly clear, but there was a little static on the line. Ressler had heard worse, so wasn't too concerned.

Yet.

Red continued, but they realized he wasn't speaking to them. "If this goes much longer without seeing anyone, we're heading back down, Dembe." Ressler could hear concern in Red's voice. He glanced over at Liz. She heard it too, and asked Red a question.

"Red, how bad is the road?" She too was concerned about getting back down the mountain.

"Lizzie my dear, for now they are still passable. But Donald, remember what I said. We need to make this quick."

Ressler wanted to ask 'yeah, then why didn't you try harder to move the meeting up to earlier in the day?', but instead kept silent.

"There he is, Dembe."

Someone carrying a large umbrella appeared in their view, approaching the car quickly. Another umbrella appeared from the vehicle as Red opened the door, stepping briskly out to the man, before both umbrellas headed back inside, out of their view. Ressler reached up and flicked two switches, killing their own mics, but they were still able to hear Red.

"I don't like this Liz..." Ressler shook his head, leaning back in the chair again. Red's meeting needed to take place very quickly.

Liz didn't like it either. The rain had been worrying her for a couple of hours, and now the stakes had risen with Red and Jacob Cole, they presumed, entering the picture.

Static filled their head phones as Red entered the cabin, and Ressler immediately started adjusting the signal, trying to get a better connection. He got it cleaned up a little, but it wasn't very clear.

"Just great." This was going from bad to worse. He held his fingers to his ear, pushing the earpieces in a little to try and hear a little better. Liz was doing the same and Ressler reached up and turned the volume up even more. Red and Cole were making small talk about the rain, and talking about where Red could hang his coat. Now Cole was asking if Red wanted a drink.

Get on with it, thought Ressler impatiently.

More static filled their earpieces then as a bright flash lit up outside the van windows. The thunder clap was heard only a second behind the lightning, so loud that their van moved with the shock wave, making them duck in reflex.

"Damn. Damn. Damn..." Ressler swore under his breath. He hadn't believed it possible, but the rain intensified. "We're going to need to abort in a few minutes. This is crazy." He told her, and she was nodding, really getting concerned now.

They could hear Red and Cole talking, but the sound was cutting in and out, making their words unclear.

Ressler shook his head, looking at Liz. "We're done. We can't even hear." He was reaching for the mic switch to inform Red they had to pull out, when they heard another loud crack. Thunder? Not thunder. He knew that sound!

"Oh my God! That was a gunshot!" she cried out, looking at Ressler in horror. A second shot rang out, startling them anew.

Ressler flipped on his mic. "Reddington!"

A voice came over their headphones, but it was not Reddington. They didn't recognize the voice of Jacob Cole, but knew it had to be him.

"Mr Reddington is... indisposed. If you want to save your man, you had better get down here and stop sneaking around up there, FBI man."


	2. Chapter 2 - The Cole Brothers

Ressler held his hand up to Liz, shaking his head as he looked at her, warning her not to make a sound. Think. Dammit, think, he told himself. Cole apparently didn't know there were two of them up here, and Ressler needed to keep it that way.

"It will take me a little while. In case you haven't noticed, it's a little wet out there." Ressler informed Cole.

They had no choice. Ressler had to get down there, knowing that Cole had the upper hand for now. Liz was shaking her head at him, telling him not to do that. He looked at her, not needing to say a word. She understood, not liking it at all, but nodding her head now in resignation.

"You have three minutes, or your man gets a bullet in his head to match the one in his arm." Cole snapped back at him.

Liz's eyes widened and Ressler again silently warned her to keep quiet. She looked at her watch, noting where the second hand was.

"I will be there." He flipped off his mic, exhaling heavily as he threw his headphones down. "Shit." he cursed.

They looked at each other for a split second, before each of them scrambled to get in place. He stood up and threw his jacket on, as she gathered up her backpack and climbed through the small door to the front. Not even taking the time to turn off the video feeds, he climbed through to the front after her, sitting down heavily in the drivers' seat. He quickly opened his door a few inches and unplugged the cabin camera from the van inputs, soaking his arm in seconds. Jamming the keys in the ignition he started to reverse down the road, being very concerned the van would slide into the raging river on either side.

He could barely see out the side mirror, and they lurched alarmingly into the edge of the torrent flowing over the road from the roadside ditch. He slowed, righting his angle and proceeded again. Liz remembered the small camera pointing back down the road and crammed her head back in through the small dividing door, looking at the monitor. Directing him as best as she could with the limited view, she was able to help keep him on a fairly straight course through the water as he reversed.

"How long?" he asked her and she quickly checked her watch again as another lightning strike flashed close by.

"We have just under 2 minutes left." she said, ducking as another clap of thunder deafened them.

"Liz, I need to drop you off before we get there. He apparently doesn't know there are two of us, and we need that element of surprise."

She already knew that, and was getting her coat on, pulling the hood up. It was fairly rainproof, but it wouldn't be long before it was soaked through in this downpour. She had her backpack ready to throw over her shoulder.

"I know, and it's okay." she said hurriedly, as another lightning strike flashed, and a clap of thunder filled the air almost immediately. It wasn't okay, but they had no choice. If Cole didn't know there were two of them, that worked to their advantage. Just what good she could do outside the cabin, she wasn't sure yet. They were making this up as they went along.

"I'll get you as close as I can to the large outer building, and you make straight for it." He told her, still concentrating on not ending up on their side in the ditch. She could hear the tension in his voice - they both knew she could get killed out in this weather.

"I will. Believe me, I don't want to be out in this any longer than necessary!" she said, still looking back at the monitor.

"What the heck went wrong?" She wasn't really asking him, just voicing her own concerns, knowing full well he didn't know either.

"I have no idea..." he said, squinting his eyes as he tried to get a good view in the side mirror. He finally reached the main road and reversed out onto it, surging through another river of rainwater flowing down the main road. As he pulled forward, he glanced across at her, before returning his eyes quickly to the road that they could barely make out in front of them. It was only mid afternoon, yet it was so dark it felt like early evening. He made his way back down toward the driveway and turned in, having a momentary scare that they were going to get stuck when they crossed the small river running across the driveway entrance.

They lost sight of the cabin as the driveway took a slight bend, hiding their van for a moment. "Close enough. Let me out here." she said, but he was already stopping. There was no time for words. Their eyes locked, and she quickly grasped his arm as he nodded to her in acknowledgement. She turned and opened the door and leaving the safety of the van, dropped down into the rain.

He drove off, hating to leave her there alone. "Be safe, Liz." he said out loud, knowing she could no longer hear him.

Liz stepped out into the deluge, feeling the rain striking her face hard. The sound was deafening. As the van pulled away from her, she tried not to think about what Ressler was about to walk into. Throwing her backpack over her shoulders, she ran to a nearby tree. The impact from the rain was less under the branches, but she needed to get moving. She ran to the next tree, trying not to trip over tree roots and saplings hidden in the semi darkness. The ground felt spongy beneath her feet as the water soaked the overgrown forest floor. Working her way from tree to tree, aware of the cabin at all times, she slowly got closer.

Lightning lit up the sky again, closely followed by a crack of thunder so loud it made her ears ring. She had been told her entire life NOT to stand under trees during thunderstorms - and what was she doing now?! Move! She yelled at herself. The sky lit up again, striking a large tree off to her right with a huge bang. The tree literally exploded, showering the area with sparks as tree limbs crashed to the ground near her. She hit the ground, crouching with her arms over her head, shaking in fear. The flames were quickly extinguished by the downpour, leaving the lingering smell of ozone in the air. I'm going to get hit by lightning! I just know it! She thought, as she ran faster now, trying desperately to reach the large building and get some shelter.

Running to another tree, she missed her footing and slipped on a tree root, going down hard on one knee. She grabbed quickly at the tree for support, skinning her knuckles on a cross branch in the process. Hauling herself back up, she hissed at the sting in her hand and the pain that flared in her right knee, forcing herself onward. She was getting closer to the outer building now, and darted across to another thick tree. A small branch slapped across her face, and she swatted it out the way. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the building before her, giving her a glimpse of a back door and a couple of windows. She ran the last few feet to the building, finally reaching it and leaned against it for a moment, catching her breath.

Trying the door, she was amazed that it opened and quickly slipped inside. Leaning back against the door, she felt light as a feather with the abrupt halt to the rain pummeling her. The building was dark and smelled musty. She could see dark shapes of vehicles and a mower near her as her eyes grew accustomed to the dark. A ladder led up to a loft above her, and she bypassed that, slowly moving toward the front of the building to where she would be able to see the cabin. Keeping crouched down, dripping water everywhere, she made her way steadily toward one of the windows, cringing every time the lightning lit up her position. Crossing to one of the front windows, she stood up now, staying to the side. Peering around, she could now see their green surveillance van parked behind Red's vehicle. Ressler must already be inside the cabin, she surmised. There was no sign of anyone, and no lights on inside the cabin. Of course, she realized, the power would have been one of the first casualties of this weather.

She was still peering cautiously out the window when a large hand came from behind her and covered her mouth, startling her and stifling her involuntary scream.

###

Watching Liz step out into the violent storm was one of the hardest things Ressler had done in a long time. He almost stopped to go back and get her, deciding they should take their chances with the Coles together. He didn't have time though, not if he was to get there within his three minute window. Silently cursing Reddington for getting them into this mess, he arrived at the cabin. He had already seen that the house was in darkness. Just great, he thought. No power.

Lightning flashed around him, illuminating Red's car parked outside the cabin. He pulled in behind and shut off the engine, as another deafening clap of thunder sounded overhead. Taking a deep breath and a quick glance at Liz's empty seat, he quickly opened the door and dropped down onto the flooded ground. His boots splashed in the unavoidable puddles as he ran to the front porch of the cabin, getting completely drenched in the process. His coat was all but useless as the rain saturated his bullet-proof vest and t-shirt, and cut through his jeans. The gel in his hair was gone in moments, leaving his blonde hair plastered to his forehead. Just as he stepped under the porch, a loud bang sounded in the trees off to his left. Lightning had struck a tree, splintering it everywhere as the trunk exploded. The rain put out the fire almost as soon as it started. He stood there, frozen to the spot. Liz! She's out there in this!

The door opened behind him and before he could even turn around, he felt the cold metal of a gun barrel placed against his soaking wet head.

"Just in time, FBI man." A rough voice said beside him in the darkness.

Moving to the side, the man quickly disarmed Ressler, taking his sidearm and cuffs from his right hip. Ressler eyed the man, recognizing Jacob Cole from his photo, and silently allowed himself to be led inside. You don't argue with someone who has their gun barrel less than an inch from your brain matter. No, you bide your time. And Ressler was very good at biding his time.

As they stepped inside the dark cabin, lightning flashed again and the thunder cracked right after it. In that glimpse of light, he barely saw a man face down on the floor, a blood pool around them. Was that Red?! His heart lurched.

"Agent Ressler. How nice of you to join the party." Spoke a familiar voice in the darkness.

There was no mistaking Red's voice. For a moment, Ressler felt relief that his 'pet criminal' wasn't the one apparently dead on the floor. That was quickly followed by irritation at the man for putting him in this position. He held his tongue, silently cursing Reddington. Jacob Cole pushed him firmly into the room toward where Red's voice had come from.

"Agent Ressler, is it? Well how formal." said Jacob wryly. "Sit down, FBI man. Next to your buddy Reddington there."

When Ressler didn't obey immediately, hands reached out of the darkness shoving him roughly down to the floor. He landed with a thud, falling against Reddington's left side. He heard Red grunt as he hit him and in the next flash of lightning he saw why. Jacob Cole had been right when he'd said Reddington had been shot in the arm. Blood was pooling on his shirt sleeve, dripping down onto his pants. In the brief glimpse in the lightning flashes, Ressler saw the blood was coming from Red's left forearm. What a pleasant change, he thought. I'm not the one who's shot.

His thoughts were jarred back to Cole as his own handcuffs were thrown at him, and he instinctively caught them in the dark.

"Cuff yourself. And be quick about it." Cole told him. Ressler did as he was told and cuffed his wrists in front of him, sitting on the floor beside Red now as they both leaned against the wall.

"Make sure they're tight now," Cole taunted, "or I'll tighten 'em for you." He laughed then, and Ressler was almost waiting for the "dun dun duuunnn" music, with how clichéd Cole sounded with that laugh. Like something out of a B-grade movie, complete with the spooky thunderstorm.

"Oh, they're tight, Jacob." said Ressler. His fingers were already turning pink with how tight they were. He decided he really, really didn't like Jacob Cole.

"I ain't Jacob. I'm Jessie. That's Jake there on the ground. Dead." He said, as Ressler now realized this was Jessie Cole, Jacob's twin. Well, that's not confusing at all.

###

Liz struggled against the hand over her mouth. Feeling her assailants' breath close by her ear, she tried to free herself but she was held fast.

"Agent Keen. Can you be quiet?" a voice said in her ear. It was Dembe!

She nodded, relief flooding over her. He gently removed his hand from her mouth then, before pulling her back into the shadows. She started to ask him what the hell was going on, but noticed he was holding his finger to his mouth in a 'ssshhh' motion, needing her to be quiet. Relief gave way to disbelief. Did the man seriously think anyone would hear her over this storm?! As if to validate her, they both ducked as a close lightning strike lit up the shed, along with an almost simultaneous thunderous crack. Another tree had been hit very close to their location.

She was seriously wondering about him at this point. But then he pointed to the loft above them and she turned and looked up, following where he was pointing. Her heart leapt to her throat and she dropped to a crouch behind one of the vehicles.

There was a man up there, sleeping in a cot in the loft above them. How the heck could he be sleeping in this weather?! She thought, stunned. Dembe tapped her shoulder again, pointing to both of them, then indicating the back door. She felt her heart sink, He was right. They needed to leave this building in case the guy woke up. She almost laughed out loud at that. If this storm hadn't woken him, nothing would!

But she followed Dembe as he lightly made his way back to the rear door under the loft. She felt sudden dread at the thought of going back out into the storm. Bracing herself, she hitched her backpack tight across her shoulders. She didn't even bother with the hood on her coat, being almost as wet with it as without it. Dembe quickly opened the door and held it for her as she reluctantly slipped outside, closely followed by him as he shut the door behind him.

He pointed to the smaller building, and she followed him as he made his way along the walls of the building toward it. Compared to her run through the trees, this was almost a piece of cake. Rainwater ran off the roof in sheets, but they were protected somewhat by the overhang of the building. They slid along the walls until they came to the corner. From there, it was a short run across to the smaller building. Splashing across the drenched ground, they headed straight for the door as another flash of lightning lit up the area. She momentarily looked toward the cabin, wanting so badly to know what was going on in there with Red and Ressler.

Reaching the door, Liz tried it, only to find it was locked. Dembe looked at the window and finding the catch, managed to get the window open. Ever the gentleman even in these conditions, he offered Liz his entwined hands to give her a leg up to the window. She accepted, balancing on his hands and holding his shoulder as she reached up to the window and climbed through. She landed on the soft dirt inside this shed and Dembe climbed through after her, closing the window behind him. After quickly checking that they were alone this time, she faced him now, looking at him dripping wet before her.

"Dembe, what happened? What went wrong?" she hissed, leaning close to him.

He was almost invisible in the darkness of the shed, illuminated only when the lightning flashed. In those moments, she could see him calmly regarding her. But then, she thought, when was Dembe ever NOT calm? She'd never seen the man raise a sweat. Never seen him show much emotion at all. Well, apart from laughing at the Three Stooges.

"I am unaware of what happened, Agent Keen. All I heard was when the man came to the car, he told Raymond that there had been a change of plans, and he told him to 'play along' with him. Then they went into the house."

Two things went through Liz's mind. The first was that she'd never heard Dembe say that much at one time. She didn't know the big guy had it in him. The second was - what change of plans? The plan had been to meet Jacob Cole and arrange documentation and transport for him and his two brothers out of the country. Yet now that change in plans had apparently resulted in Red getting shot!

"Why did you leave the car?" she asked him, wondering how he knew things had gone south.

"I heard the gunshots over the wire, and heard Mr Cole telling the 'FBI man' to come down. I thought it wise to take up a new position in the building. I saw the sleeping man, and then saw you come in a few minutes later. Busy place."

Had he just told a joke? She believed he had. And yes of course... Red wouldn't have only had them listening in. He'd have had Dembe online too. That made sense. She looked at the man now, realizing just how much Red trusted him. And for Red, trust was hard won.

###

"Now that we're all here Jessie, who is next on your dance card?" asked Red. Ressler thought he sounded rather charming for someone who had just been shot.

They didn't hear Jessie's answer as a loud crack shattered through the air, as lightning struck another tree. The thunder that came almost simultaneously was the loudest crack they had heard yet. Ressler closed his eyes as the house shook, exhaling heavily. Liz! Oh God Liz!

Red was looking at him as he sat beside him, and leaned into the younger man. "Not afraid of a little thunder, are we Donald?" he asked under his breath. Ressler opened his eyes and looked at the man silently. Surely Red was wondering where Liz was. Ressler looked down at his hands, and started rubbing an imaginary scar on his wrist. Red got it. Liz was out there in the storm. His only reaction was a momentary flicker across his eyes, before he turned his view to the front again, digesting that news. He looked at their captor again.

"Jessie, in case you haven't noticed, all hell is breaking loose outside. And if you are to have any benefit of using Agent Ressler and I as hostages, I suggest you think seriously about getting off this mountain very, very soon."

"Well, now, hold your horses. First, I wanna know what my brother told you." sneered Jessie. He crouched down before the two men on the floor, waving his gun precariously at them as he spoke.

"You tell me what Jake and you talked about."

"Perhaps if you hadn't shot him, you could have asked him that yourself." said Red evenly.

"Why'd you try and save him anyway, taking that bullet for the traitor?" asked Jessie, pointing his gun at Red's bleeding arm.

"Let's call it a moment of weakness, shall we?" answered Red.

Ressler was listening to this exchange, gathering information. So Jacob had apparently reneged on the whole deal, and Jessie had shot him for it. But not before Red tried to intervene and stop Jacob being killed. Red tried to save someone's life by taking a bullet? Chalk that up as a first. There was something else he was realizing, listening to Jessie. He hadn't heard much from the man, but one thing he did know. This guy didn't appear to have the smarts to pull off the scenario Red had presented to them. Maybe Jacob had been the brains. Or the Cole's were just the front men for someone else in charge. Or maybe Red had played them. It wouldn't be the first time, he thought.

Jessie opened his mouth to say something else, when lightning struck right beside the house, deafening them with the crack as it obliterated a tree completely. Debris and branches rained down on the roof of the cabin, startling them with the force it hit the house. Cole's gaze shot up as he turned, still crouching down before them. Seizing the moment, Ressler launched himself at the man, startling Red with how fast he moved. Throwing his arms around Cole's head, he pulled back hard, strangling him with the chain on the cuffs. Just like a greasy Russian. The thought came unbidden to Ressler's mind as he choked the air out of Cole.

Red was rising to his feet, recognizing that the tables had turned, glad to be off the floor at last. He had to admit he was rather impressed with Donald. That is, until he heard another voice shout across the room.

"Let him go, or I'll shoot you right between the eyes!"

Ressler didn't let go.

"Let him go!"

Red tried to make out where the voice was coming from, and in the next flash of lightning he saw a man that could only be a Cole. Younger than Jacob and Jessie. He had to be Jeremy. He was moving into the room from the rear of the house, weapon drawn. Red had seen that look enough times to know this young man was going to shoot.

Ressler was tired of being told what to do, and kept hold of the cuffs against Jessie's throat. A shot rang out, and Ressler darted to the side as the bullet narrowly missed him. Jeremy Cole had his target in his sights now, and fired again.

Reddington watched as Ressler cried out and slumped to the ground, an unconscious Jessie Cole falling on top of him.

"You too, old man! Hands up!"

Reddington didn't need to be told twice. Unlike some people in the room, he thought, glancing at Ressler who wasn't moving. His left arm was stiffening up and swelling from the gunshot wound, but he raised his arms as best he could, unable to lace his fingers behind his head in his usual 'I'm being arrested again' stance. He sunk to his knees in submission, looking calmly at Jeremy Cole.

Cole approached him, gun drawn, looking eerily calm in the flashes from the lightning. If Jessie Cole was a sneering maniac, Jeremy was cool, calm and collected. And where the hell had he come from?!


	3. Chapter 3 - Never Underestimate

Jeremy Cole held his gun steadily on Reddington as the criminal kneeled on the ground in front of him. Red had been in this position many times, on his knees, hands raised and a gun pointed at him. He'd survived those situations so far, and presumed he would this one.

"What business did my brother Jake have with you? Aside from the passports and transportation." Jeremy Cole asked him.

Red looked calmly at Cole. A few years younger than his twin brothers, he was in his early thirties. While he resembled them remarkably in looks, he differed immensely in presence and attitude. Red could see the leadership in this man.

"I am here to procure safe passage out of the country for you and your brothers. That was always the business I had with Jacob." he said calmly.

"I don't believe you, old man." said Cole, as Red shrugged his head a little at that remark. He wasn't sure he liked being called old either.

In a flash of lightning, Reddington caught another glimpse of Ressler on the ground behind Cole. He had noticed something that Cole apparently hadn't. There was no blood under the FBI agent.

On the floor behind Cole, Ressler lay as still as he could. He was biding his time, and 'playing dead' gave him the advantage he needed. He had been shot, a fact his ribs were screaming out loud and clear, but his vest had taken the impact. Just as he'd known (or hoped) it would when he made the split second decision with Cole shooting at him. Reddington wasn't the only one who could step in front of a bullet to save a ... well, whatever Reddington was, Ressler knew it was his job to keep the man alive. The bullet had impacted the left side of his vest below his heart and he knew that was going to bruise like a son of bitch. He'd certainly felt that before, too many times to count over the years. So he lay still, feeling rather fortunate that Jessie Cole was laying half on top of him because it hid the hitch in his breathing. Having Jessie Cole this close offered the biggest advantage of all though. Ressler's own gun was still stuck in Cole's belt - right in front of him. So he waited for the right moment.

Reddington regarded Cole, and suddenly smiled that charming smile. "You know, I'm really wondering what sort of a man you are Jeremy. Your brother Jacob is lying on the floor dead, your brother Jessie is possibly dead over there, thanks to the bull-in-a-china-shop FBI agent, yet you haven't so much as looked at them."

"My business with my brothers is my business, Reddington." said Cole evenly, and Red continued to look at him, smiling that charming smile he had.

A flash of lightning lit up the room with another loud bang. Ressler's moment had come. He was counting on the next huge clap of thunder and he wasn't disappointed. In that moment, he reached for his gun and flipped the safety off. Completely hidden in the sudden darkness and masked by the sound of the thunder clap, he rose silently in one fluid motion. Ignoring the surge of pain in his ribs, he stood right behind Jeremy Cole, his weapon aimed at his head. The thunderclap ended, and relative silence ensued.

"Don't move Cole. Don't even breathe." he said to Cole, who still had his gun drawn on Red.

Red smiled even more then as he regarded Cole "Here's a tip for you, Jeremy. Never underestimate the 'dead' FBI agent lying on the floor behind you."

Cole's eyes grew cold, and he turned to face Ressler, looking straight down the agent's gun barrel. Completely calm, Cole raised his own weapon and pointed it right at Ressler. They were at an impasse, it seemed. Ressler looked into the eyes of Jeremy Cole as they were lit up by the next lightning flash, and knew he was looking at the brains of this outfit. There was no way 'idiot Jessie' could lead them. But this man could. He knew in that instant that they needed Jeremy Cole alive. But he still wasn't going to lower his weapon while he looked down Cole's gun barrel.

He was looking into Cole's eyes when the man suddenly dropped to his knees, his gun clattering away on the floor. Ressler lunged to the floor, retrieving the gun in one move, his breath catching at the flare of pain in his side. Turning as he crouched on the floor, he aimed both weapons right in Cole's face.

"Don't even think about it." He told the man, hissing through his teeth at the pain in his ribs. "If my gun misses, yours will finish the job nicely, I'm sure."

Ressler's eyes flickered over to Red. He had been largely ignored during their exchange - until he had kicked Cole's legs out from under him.

"Here's another tip for you, Jeremy. Never underestimate the old man on the floor behind you either." said Red, his satisfied grin never leaving his face.

###

Liz looked out the window at their surveillance van, realizing that only having eyes on the cabin was useless. She needed ears. Although, hearing anything over this storm would be challenging, to say the least. There could still be an open mic inside the cabin. She had to try.

She glanced at Dembe, who was calmly standing near her in the shadows, only lit up as each flash of lighting illuminated the building. "Dembe, I need to get over to the van. If there is a chance of hearing what's going on in there, I need to take it. While we have eyes on the cabin right now, it's not doing us any good. We need ears."

Returning her gaze to outside the window, she was barely able to see Red's car or their van through the downpour - but that very downpour would provide the cover she needed.

"I will come with you Agent Keen, and assist you in any way I can." he told her, his smooth voice coming out of the shadows in the darkness.

She smiled to herself, noting again the loyalty and quiet soul of this man. She liked him, and the more time she spent with him, the more she trusted him. But she didn't need him to go out to the van with her.

"No, I would like you to go back to the other building, and keep an eye on our sleeping friend. I don't know who he is, or what he's here for, but I don't like it." And if she hadn't been trying to maintain a low profile, she'd have already established that. This sneaking around was bothering her now. It was time to get out in the open and make a difference.

"Then let's roll." She said, suddenly thinking of Ressler in that moment. She'd heard him say that at times - and would give anything to hear him say that right now, she thought ruefully.

As they opened the door to the building and stepped back into the rain, she immediately felt the weight of it pummel her again. It had rained hard like this for hours. Surely it would let up soon! The rain stinging her face, she looked at Dembe for a moment. He nodded to her, his eyes squinting against the sting of the rain, before he turned and sprinted toward the larger building. Turning her attention to their van, she positioned herself so the van lay between her and the cabin, and began her run toward it. The ground was saturated. So much rain had fallen that the grass was soft and spongy under her feet, leaving impressions in the ground as she ran. It was like running in quicksand. She involuntarily ducked every time the lightning flashed, leaving her starkly visible under it. Reaching the van, she leaned against it for a moment, looking back at the buildings. She couldn't see Dembe any more, but assumed he was inside the larger building by now.

She tried the drivers' door, and said a silent thank you to Ressler for not automatically locking it. She opened it quickly and slipped inside, aware of the interior light that felt startlingly bright when the door was opened. She took a quick look at the dash clock. Was it really only 3:12pm in the afternoon? It felt like hours since Red had arrived at the cabin just before 2:00pm! Opening the door to the rear of the van, she crawled through and quickly closed it behind her. The monitors were still on, and amazingly, the little camera on the rear of the van was still sending back images. Sitting on one of the chairs, she put the headphones on her soaking wet head, and listened.

And heard nothing.

She moved the dial slowly now, trying to pick up a signal, and was greeted with silence. Not even static, which would have been something. The line on the other end was completely dead. She slumped in the chair. Okay, she thought, time for Plan B. Or was it Plan C? She'd lost track. She dropped the headphones down, glanced quickly at the empty chair Ressler had been sitting in, and left the rear of the van. Cautiously looking out of the opening to make sure it was all clear, she made her way through the small door to the cab again. She waited for the next flash of lightning to help mask the cab light, her hand on the drivers' door. The lightning flashed and she opened the door, timing it perfectly. The less chance of her being seen the better.

Taking cover behind the van she looked toward the cabin again. It was impossible to see in through the windows, and she was going to need to get up on that porch. As she stepped away from the drivers' door, she heard another loud clap of thunder, and an additional sound near her ear. The drivers' window suddenly shattered, spraying glass fragments everywhere, hitting her. Her hand flying to her cheek, she ducked, realizing that was a rifle shot that had just pierced the window! The sound of it had been hidden in the thunderclap! She ran then, taking cover on the other side of the van as a second shot rang out. It hit the front of the van, shattering one of the headlights. Reaching the passenger side of the van now, she crouched down, weapon drawn. It had to be the sleeping man who was firing!

She was now between a rock and a hard place. Pinned down as someone fired at her from the outer buildings, and at risk of being seen by whoever had shot Red inside the cabin.

###

"Give that to me." said Red, holding out his right hand, indicating Cole's weapon in Ressler's left hand.

Ressler's eyes never left Jeremy Cole. He ignored Red's request, instead needing the man to do something for him.

"Get my cuff keys from Jessie's pocket. I think our friend Jeremy here could use my cuffs more than me." he said evenly, as Cole looked calmly at him.

"An FBI agent who can't get out of his own cuffs? I obviously don't have much to worry about." He said, and looked away, feigning disinterest.

Red got to his feet and walked over to Jessie. Searching the unconscious man, he came up with a pocket knife, which he deftly slipped unseen into his own pocket, before turning around and holding up the keys to Ressler.

Ressler watched Red unlocking his cuffs as he kept the two weapons trained on Cole. What's wrong with this picture, he thought, watching Number 4 working with him, on his side of the fence... his ally... It had been almost a year, yet part of his mind just couldn't accept it. Yet this man had saved his life. Raymond Reddington, he thought...the bane of my life...my greatest enemy...and yet...he has given me things, and done things for me that I couldn't have done on my own.

As his cuffs fell away, Ressler made one of those decisions in life that he hoped wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.

He handed Cole's loaded gun to Red.

He glanced at Red silently, who returned the look, an unreadable expression on his face. He sees the irony in this too, thought Ressler.

Red quickly turned Cole's own weapon on him, aiming it at the man's head, as Ressler leaned down and held Jeremy's arms behind his back now, cuffing him securely. Jeremy regarded both of them, his voice level.

"You won't get away with this, you know."

"Save your threats, Cole." said Ressler from behind him, looking over toward Jessie. He needed to secure him too before he woke up. He approached the unconscious man and checked his pulse, which was weak, but steady. He now checked Jacob Cole (who Ressler had dubbed 'the forgotten one') and confirmed he was indeed dead. He undid Jacob Cole's belt then, and slipped the belt off the dead man. He wasn't going to need it anymore. Kneeling down, again ignoring the stab of pain in his ribs, he pulled Jessie's arms behind him, and secured him tightly with the belt. It would hold for a while, until he could get Liz's cuffs on him. Liz... they needed to find her.

Standing up, he suddenly found the scene before him rather bizarre as it was illuminated in the lightning. There were Cole brothers everywhere on the floor. Dead Jacob. Unconscious Jessie. Handcuffed Jeremy. And Raymond Reddington holding a gun on one of them. Yeah, life sure had changed.

"We need to get out of here and off this mountain." he told Reddington. He then looked dubiously out the window as lighting flashed, illuminating the downpour outside. "And find Liz..." he added, unable to hide his worry as another clap of thunder rolled overhead.

Red nodded to him at that. "And Dembe, too." he added quietly.

"Well Jeremy, it appears we're going on a road trip." Red told Cole pleasantly, as Ressler pulled the man roughly to his feet.

He then stepped over to Jessie, and leaning down picked up the unconscious man and hauled him up, laying him over his shoulders fireman style. His ribs screaming in pain, he gasped as he eased up to a standing position again, Jessie Cole now slung over his shoulders.

"Let's roll." he said, trying to hide the pain.

They made a strange trio. Jeremy in front with his hands cuffed. Reddington was following, blood dripping down his left arm as he held Cole's gun to the man's head. Ressler was right behind him, carrying Jessie on his shoulders. He was trying to ignore the pain that was raging across his left side under the added weight of the unconscious man. He wasn't doing a stellar job of it.

"Try anything and you're a dead man, Jeremy." Ressler warned as they stepped onto the porch. They stood on the relatively dry porch, and in the next flash of lightning they all saw someone in the rain crouched behind the van, motioning wildly to them to get back inside.

Liz!

A rifle shot pierced the air, and wood splintered near Red's head as the door frame exploded under the bullet. Ressler dropped to the ground, dumping Jessie unceremoniously as he went for his sidearm.

"Get back inside!" he ordered Cole, both Red and Ressler holding him at gunpoint now. Cole stood there calmly looking at both of them. Ressler was beginning to find the man downright weird, with his calmness.

"Now! Inside!" Ressler yelled at him, trying to shove the man back through the doorway. Another shot rang out, and Jeremy Cole went down, crying out as blood spread quickly over the right side of his head. He lay still on the ground. They didn't know if he was alive or dead.

"Get in!" yelled Ressler over another thunderclap as he motioned for Red to get inside.

Ressler quickly dragged Jeremy back inside with him as another shot rang out. Hearing the bullet whiz by his ear as it landed in the heavy wood of the cabin, he didn't want to think how close that one had been. He got Jeremy inside and dumped the unconscious man on the ground. Cole's head was bleeding profusely. Ressler turned to go back outside to drag Jessie back in - and get to Liz.

"There is a man with a high powered rifle out there. Don't go out there." said Red, putting his arm out to stop Ressler.

"And Liz is out there too!" shouted Ressler, glaring at Reddington, shrugging the mans hand off his arm.

"I didn't say you shouldn't go outside. I said you shouldn't go out _there_." said Red calmly, indicating the front door.

Ressler stopped, knowing Red was right. He slammed the door shut then, not knowing how much protection that would afford. As if in answer another shot hit the window, shattering it, the bullet landing in a couch on the opposite side of the room. Rain immediately poured into the room, soaking the floor where they had been sitting against the wall earlier.

"Let's go." Said Ressler, looking toward the back of the house. Even the damn storm is inside the house now, he thought.

Between them they dragged Jeremy toward the kitchen at the rear of the house. Hauling him up onto the bare kitchen table, they each grunted under his weight as their own injuries complained. Ressler shone his small flashlight on the man's head, as they both leaned down and looked at the wound. The bullet had sliced cleanly along the side of his head, from front to back. It was clean though, not the mess either of them were expecting to see. Amazingly, Jeremy Cole had been shot in the head with a high powered rifle, yet it had missed his brain. It had literally scraped the skin and hair off his skull. He was going to have one hell of a headache when he woke up. And one ugly scar, Ressler thought, the image of Anslo Garrick suddenly springing to mind.

"He'll be fine." said Red, straightening up. "It looks a whole lot worse than it is."

Ressler looked at him, then worriedly toward the window as another flash of lightning lit up the room.

"Go. Find her." said Red and they nodded to each other as Ressler turned and ran out the back door with his weapon drawn.

###

Liz was soaked through, still crouched behind the van and contemplating her next move. The water ran in rivers under her feet, washing gravel from the driveway into the sodden grass as it flowed under her. There was nowhere to stand to get out of the water. Everything was flooded. She was trying to figure out two things. How there could be flood on TOP of a mountain when water runs downward, which should take it away from the top, right? She was also trying to remember if the van keys were in the ignition. She was irritated with herself that she hadn't even taken time to check that. She tried to look in the cab, waiting for a bullet to hit her, but it was too dark. Finally managing to look in as lighting flashed, she saw the empty ignition. No keys.

Time for Plan D. Or was it Plan E by now?

Her attention was drawn to the cabin door as it opened, and out stepped a man in cuffs. Jacob Cole? And Reddington - holding a gun on the first man! And there came Ressler, with a guy flung over his shoulders! Relief filled her, but only for a moment.

They were sitting ducks in the line of fire!

Lightning flashed and she gestured to them, trying to tell them to get back inside. She was too late and a shot rang out, piercing the door frame. She watched helplessly as their prisoner went down with another shot.

"No!" she yelled, moving from where she was at, but taking cover as another shot rang out. They were back inside now though. Apart from the dude Ressler had been carrying, she noticed.

This is crazy, she thought. I can't move from here! Another shot hit the cabin, shattering the front window. Rain poured into the room as she watched. Had it really just been this morning they were parked outside the gas station in clear blue skies before heading up this mountain? It felt like it had been raining forever. She didn't think she would ever feel dry again.

She turned her attention back to the out building, again trying to pinpoint where the shots had been coming from, when lighting lit up something that caused her to drop down quickly.

Someone was walking toward the cabin.

Moving to the back of the van, she inched her way around, weapon drawn, and continued to watch. In the next lightning flash she saw the person again.

They had their arms up, fingers laced on their head. The position you put a prisoner in. She couldn't make out who it was. There were two of them she saw now, walking across from the building to the cabin. Lightning flashed again, and she stood up in sheer relief when she finally made out what she was seeing.

Dembe! Liz felt like dancing in the rain with relief.

Dembe was walking behind the man, aiming the sniper rifle at his back. Dembe, that trustful, silent soul had overpowered the man who had been shooting at them.

She came out from behind the van, weapon drawn and approached the two men in the pouring rain. They stopped half way between the buildings and the cabin, rain hitting them hard.

Thunder rolled again, and Liz didn't hear what the man said. Looking at him though, she could see he'd been in quite a fight. Dembe had too, she saw, with a nasty welt under his left eye. She turned back to the man then, pulling his arms down and cuffing him tightly, hands behind his back. She motioned toward the cabin now, and together they led the man in the rain, sloshing through rivers of mud.

###

Ressler ran out the back door and down the back steps, feeling the full brunt of the storm on him again. It was oppressive, almost claustrophobic. How had Liz handled it out in this for so long?

There was no porch out the back of the house, just a small grassed area that led into the surrounding trees. Leaving the relative safety of the house, he ran for the trees. They would afford some cover, at least. Like Liz, he was also well aware of the danger of trees and lightning. In stark evidence of that fact, there were shattered trees dotted throughout the forest, having taken direct hits from the lightning. He couldn't think about that now. The thought of Liz pinned down by the van with a sniper out there was uppermost in his mind.

The wet ground sucked at his feet, making running much harder. Like one of those athletes training on the beach, running in the sand, he suddenly thought. The beach…sun and sand. That seemed impossible right now, in this rain sodden landscape. Focus! He told himself.

Darting from one tree to the next, he made his way to the side of the house now, able to see the outer buildings. A tree crashed down somewhere off to his left, but he couldn't see it. He stood behind a larger tree now, almost in line with the front of the house. He should be able to see Liz soon.

Another lightning strike lit up the sky as he scrambled to the next tree. Momentarily blinded, he lost his footing and slammed heavily into the tree trunk. His bruised ribs complained loudly at that as he held onto the tree, grimacing in pain and trying to catch his breath. His ribs felt worse now as the swelling had increased under the vest. It was best to keep the vest tight, supporting them though. Or so he'd heard.

Move! He scolded himself. He was taking too long.

With an effort, he pushed himself away from the tree and was finally level with the front of the house. Crouching down behind the next fairly large tree, he looked out into the sheets of rain. He could see the van now, along with Red's car parked in front of it.

But he couldn't see Liz.

He straightened, looking for her. She wasn't at the van anymore. He didn't know if he should feel relief or dread at that prospect. His eyes searched around the van, and near the house, finding it infuriating to have to wait for each lightning strike to be able to see well enough. He was scanning the porch carefully as the sky lit up again, when he realized something else. Liz wasn't the only one missing.

Jessie Cole was no longer lying on the porch.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang near him, so close he literally felt his skin crawl with the electricity in the air. Lightning hit the tree right behind him – the very tree he had been leaning on a minute earlier, he realized sickeningly.

Run! He screamed inwardly, but he was too late. A large tree branch was coming toward him, exploding from the tree. He ducked for cover, but the tree limb struck him heavily on his back, knocking him off his feet. He was pinned under it, and it had knocked the wind right out of him. Gasping for air on the soaked ground, his face inches from a river of water running on the ground, he tried to suck in a breath. His lungs had stopped working. Breathe! He screamed at himself. His lungs suddenly expanded and he inhaled gulps of rain filled air. He'd only thought his ribs were hurting before. Now they screamed relentlessly at him with the weight of the tree limb across his back.

He couldn't find his gun. He had dropped it when the branch hit him, and now he searched frantically as he lay face down on the flooded ground, unable to rise to his feet. He spotted something out the corner of his eye in the next lightning flash. He looked up as the sky lit up brightly.

Right into the eyes of Jessie Cole.

"This what you're lookin' for, FBI man?" Ressler saw clearly now that Jessie had his gun aimed at him.

"Say 'Goodnight Jessie' FBI man, because you're fixin' to take a nap. A permanent nap!" he laughed at his own joke then, waving Ressler's gun right in his face.

Ressler couldn't move. He was looking right down his own gun barrel as he struggled on the flooded ground. You've got to be kidding me! I'm going to be killed by Festus.

A shot rang out.

Ressler closed his eyes, wondering how long it would take to die. There were a lot of things he had never got to do, he mused. But hey, at least I'll be with Audrey, he reflected. Wait, were you supposed to still feel pain when you were dead? He slowly realized he wasn't dead yet and opened his eyes cautiously.

And saw Liz standing over Jessie Cole's body, her gun still drawn.

Ressler's eyes focused on her as he looked up into the rain, and he didn't think he'd ever seen a more welcome sight.

Looking at the dead man in front of him, he breathlessly answered the man "Goodnight Jessie" before the pain in his back and ribs overwhelmed him and he dropped his head to the ground.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Longest Night

"Ressler!"

Liz leaned down to Ressler as he lay trapped on the ground under the tree. He couldn't lay his head down like that. He'd drown in the small river of water that was running under him.

"Lift your head up!" she shouted at him.

"Trying..." he panted.

He was trying to, but only managing to hold his head up a couple of inches at best. The water ran by his cheek, as he struggled to keep his head above it. He didn't know what was wrong. Well, apart from the fact he was laying in the mud with a tree on top of him, he thought. He was feeling light headed and Liz looked blurry to him - and not just with the downpour.

She flung her backpack off now. Lifting his head, she wedged it under him. It would keep his head out of the water for now.

It was getting harder to breathe, and Ressler finally realized the weight of the tree had shifted, settling more into the wet ground. Pain settled further into his torso as the tree slowly crushed him. The pressure was increasing on him now, making it harder for him to expand his chest to inhale. Concentrating on taking in a breath, his lungs could not inflate enough now. Panic rose at the feeling of suffocating, but with an effort he squashed it down. Focus! Panicking would not help right now.

He opened his mouth to tell her, but she had seen the tree subside into the ground a little more, and already knew. She jumped to her feet, struggling to lift the heavy limb. It was no use, her hands couldn't get a good enough grip and when she did, she slipped on the wet ground. It was too heavy.

"I need to go and get Dembe!" She almost added 'stay here!' before realizing how stupid that was.

"No!...need to do... NOW!" he panted, reaching out to her. He would suffocate very soon if she took too long.

"How are we going to do that?!" she shouted desperately, dropping to her knees in front of him again, not even realizing she'd taken hold of his hand as a thunderclap rumbled overhead.

Sheer determination, he thought, and pointed to a thick branch lying on the ground next to Jessie Cole's body. At least, he thought it was a thick branch. It could have been a boa constrictor as blurred as his vision was getting.

"Leverage!" he panted, closing his eyes against a wave of pain and dizziness. Trees weren't supposed to spin like that.

She rose to her feet, retrieving the broken branch hurriedly. He gathered his elbows close as he could, ready to move. Taking in the biggest breath he could manage, he again squashed down the rising panic when his chest couldn't take in any more than a shallow breath. Don't think about that! Focus on lifting this damn thing off you, he told himself.

Finding a spot under the limb that was pinning him, she positioned the branch. "Go!" she yelled at him, and pushed as hard as she could under the tree, using her makeshift lever.

At her shout, he gasped, trying to push his body up with all his might as pain flared across his back. Nothing happened. He kept his eyes closed, unable to handle the ground spinning. His chest was burning under the weight of the tree and the decrease in oxygen. Don't you dare pass out! He told himself, willing himself to stay awake.

Liz pushed on the lever even more feeling her muscles strain, watching the branch she was pushing slide into the ground a couple of inches. "Dammit! Move!" she screamed at the tree, pushing as hard as she could.

Ressler dug in and pushed his back up with all his might, afraid he would feel his ribs break under the pressure. He kept pushing, his eyes still shut against the dizziness and pain, his need for air driving him on. Liz put even more pressure on the tree, and imperceptibly, the limb trapping him moved a couple of inches. As it did so, his lungs expanded and he sucked in air, feeling a bittersweet mix of fresh air and searing pain as his chest expanded. He cried out at the sudden surge of pain, and on hearing that Liz kept pushing. She had a start now and kept the momentum going, moving the tree another inch or so.

Feeling the tree limb move again, he struggled in the limited space. Dragging himself by his hands, he pushed with his feet as Liz continued holding the branch a few inches off him. Grabbing handfuls of grass and dirt, he dragged himself slowly forward until his torso was finally free of it. Scrambling the last few inches, he rolled onto his back, swinging his legs free of the tree.

He lay there in the mud, eyes closed, feeling the rain fall on his face as his chest heaved. Breathing never felt so good - and so bad. His chest was on fire. He couldn't feel any ribs moving out of place, but was pretty sure he'd cracked a couple.

Liz dropped the tree as soon as he was clear and ran to his side. "Are you okay?" she shouted worriedly over the sound of the rain. She looked him over, not that she could see anything in the dark afternoon under his muddy clothes, and looked at his pale face again.

His breaths were calming down now, much to her relief. Opening his eyes, he looked at her leaning over him, before closing them against the rain falling in his face. He nodded, trying to reassure her. "I will be." was all he said.

With his breathing steadying now and the dizziness fading fast, he rolled onto one elbow, grimacing at the pain in his chest. Rising to his knees now, she helped him up, hearing the involuntary gasp of pain from him.

"Let's get out from under these trees. And away from him…." She added, indicating Jessie Cole's body. He leaned down to Jessie's body then, ignoring his ribs, checked for a pulse and found none. As he straightened, he took in their surroundings - not that he could see much. Visibility was extremely low in the downpour. He was beginning to think it would never stop raining, a thought that Liz echoed. They were so soaked through now, it hardly bothered them to stand out in it longer.

As she stepped away toward the house, he grabbed at her arm, pulling her back. "The sniper!" he looked over to the large building now, almost expecting to see bullets flying.

She turned to him and shook her head. "Dembe got him." She said, smiling at his expression.

She reached down and retrieved her backpack, and motioned toward the cabin again. "Come on, let's get inside and get you checked out."

"I'm fine…" he started to tell her, but she stopped him with 'the look'. If there was one thing she knew about Ressler, it was that he'd keep telling her he was fine until he dropped.

They immediately felt the heavier rain on them as they cleared the trees and went out into the open again. They walked beside each other with heads down, watching where they stepped. It was impossible to step anywhere that wasn't flooded. All they could do was try to avoid the deeper rivers flowing along the ground. It was alarming how much water had accumulated everywhere. The only redeeming thing about the heavy rain was that it was doing a brilliant job of washing the mud off him, thought Ressler.

He took a slight detour as they approached the van, looking at the shot out drivers window, and the mess of broken glass and water everywhere inside. "Damn..." he cursed, shaking his head.

Liz was beside him again. "Yeah...I was standing right where you are when he fired that shot."

He quickly looked at her, and shook his head again. "What is he doing here..." he wondered.

"Red knows him." she told him now, as they left the side of the van and walked to the steps on the front porch.

That surprised Ressler. "He knows him? From where?" he asked her.

They stood on the porch now, out of most of the rain at last. "I don't know. I missed that part, because Red then told me you had gone running out into the storm to help me." She said, looking up at him and meeting his eyes. And yet she had been the one who had helped him. Some Boy Scout, he thought.

He turned and looked out at the storm again, lightning illuminating his face. "There is no way we can get off this mountain tonight, Liz. Which means we're about to spend a 'lovely' evening up here."

She looked around, knowing he was right. "Well, that's only fair, after our lovely picnic." She added, grinning, to which he gave her his signature half smile. Opening the door for her, she stepped into the cabin. He took a last look outside before following her in, feeling a low sense of dread starting in the pit of his stomach.

###

Reddington really wasn't sure where he'd got all his medical know-how from. Years of being in strange situations, probably. He'd patched up bullet wounds, knife slashes, gouges, scrapes, and set bones frequently. He could even set legs on fire in glass boxes if the need arose. He was no doctor, but in a field situation, he was a handy guy to have around if you happened to get shot.

As Jeremy Cole was finding out, reluctantly.

Cole hadn't been knocked out for very long; waking up only a few minutes after Ressler flew out the back door. Red had been ready for him. The first thing Jeremy had seen as he opened his eyes was Reddington holding a gun on him – his own gun.

And now Red was leaning over the man, attempting to dress the wound on his head – because that's what you do when someone is bleeding in front of you.

"Keep still, Jeremy." Said Red again, looking at Cole. "You stood perfectly still outside the front door and look where it landed you. So you can keep still for me now." He smiled then, that Reddington charm ever present.

"I don't need your help." Cole told him, staring into Red's eyes.

"The blood all over your kitchen table would indicate otherwise."

Cole stared at him then looked back up at the kitchen ceiling as he lay on the table. He was in no mood to argue, not with the massive headache he had woken up with.

Having found a rudimentary First Aid kit in one of the kitchen drawers, Red busied himself with dressing the head wound - using up most of the gauze and bandages in the process. He was just wrapping a long bandage around Cole's head to keep the dressing in place when he heard the front door open. Grabbing the gun, he stood up, aiming it at the kitchen door.

Dembe had been guarding their sniper friend and was closer to the kitchen door. He motioned to Red to lower the weapon when he saw it was okay.

Red had lowered the weapon by the time Liz and Ressler walked in to join them. Dembe handed each of them a towel which they gratefully took, drying their faces and hair off now.

Red looked from Ressler to Liz. "Glad to see you two finally found each other." He said with a knowing smirk. Ressler scowled and ignored Red's remark before turning to the man cuffed to the chair near Dembe.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" he asked the gunman pointedly.

The man looked at him silently, gave Ressler a hint of a smile, then dropped his gaze. Appearing almost bored, he stared at the floor.

"I can answer that for you Donald." said Red from behind him. "Meet Liev Rostov, one of the best snipers in the business.

Ressler glanced at Red, and sighed heavily, suddenly wincing at the flare of pain that produced across his torso. "Enlighten us Red. Tell us what you know, since Liev here apparently isn't talking."

Red looked at Ressler, hesitating a moment. "Donald, this man was sent here to finish the job that started with poor Meera, and almost took Harold. He's still working down that list. And I'm telling you in no uncertain terms, if it were not for this storm interfering with his aim, both of you would be dead right now." He told them, looking at them both with concern.

The low grade feeling of dread in Ressler's stomach moved up a notch. He looked over at Jeremy Cole lying on the kitchen table, now realizing the bullet that grazed Cole's skull had been meant for him. He looked at Liz, clenching his teeth now. They had been played, all right. This entire charade had been to get them up on this mountain. The only thing he didn't know yet was how much of this Red knew about before hand, or if he been played right along with them.

###

An hour later, Dembe had managed to rustle up a meager meal from supplies found in the kitchen. He couldn't use much from the fridge, with the power being off for hours. It wasn't much, but it helped somewhat. They were still in the kitchen, since none of them felt like sitting in the flooded living room with Jacob Cole's body occupying the middle of the floor. They had found candles and a hurricane lamp, and the kitchen was well lit in the soft glow. It actually felt rather cozy. They kept one candle near the door for bathroom visits, to light the way down the hall.

Jeremy Cole had been cuffed to a chair, and hadn't eaten a bite, nor had he even complained that they were eating his food. An hour earlier, Ressler had informed him that his brother Jessie was dead, and Jeremy hadn't even reacted to that news. He hadn't said a word in the hour since though, which in a way, was a reaction. Ressler actually felt a momentary pang of sympathy for the guy when he told him. He'd lost two brothers in just a few hours.

Likewise, Liev just looked away with disinterest and ignored the meal, also sitting silently on his chair.

Liz finished her meal and stood up to throw her paper plate in the trash. She put her hand on Dembe's arm. "Thank you Dembe. You're a gem." He looked at her calmly and thanked her in his soft voice.

Ressler's food was sticking in his throat at every bite, but he forced it down. He had no appetite, but knew he had to eat. Nodding his thanks to Dembe, he rose from his chair, hiding the pain that produced. The knot in his stomach was growing and he needed to clear his head. He quickly checked the cuffs on both men, glanced at Liz, and left the room.

Liz looked up as he left, recognizing the look in his eyes. He needed some space right now, and she gave it to him, turning her attention to Red.

"Are you going to let me dress that arm for you now?" she asked, though her tone implied she wasn't really asking.

Red smiled at her. "Lizzie, it's just a flesh wound. I'm fine."

"I swear, if one more stubborn male tells me they're fine..." she said briskly, then stopped. She looked up at Red more gently now. "Just let me see if I can clean it at least, okay?"

He regarded her a moment. And mainly because he could never say 'no' to that look in her eyes, he relented and rolled up his bloodied shirt sleeve. She moved one of the candles closer, leaned over and looked at the wound, but there was far too much dried blood on it now. Moving to the sink, she filled a bowl with water and then proceeded to gently wash the dried blood from his arm. Red watched her, her head bowed over his arm as she worked, and smiled.

Dembe watched his boss from the other side of the room. Raymond had hurt her deeply when she had found out about Sam, and he had wondered if this was all over. And yet...here she was, tending to him.

Finishing cleaning the blood away, Liz shone her small flashlight on it and got a better look at the wound now. The bullet had gone right through, so it was clean in the sense there was no bullet lodged in his forearm. There were clear entry and exit wounds, and while the exit wound probably needed stitches, her dressing would have to do. Reaching for the small First Aid kit, she found some antiseptic powder and sprinkled it over the two holes in his arm. Red hissed at that and she looked up at him.

"Sorry." The wounds were still bleeding, and slowly seeping out. Searching through the depleted first aid kit, she found one solitary piece of gauze large enough to cover both wounds with. She dressed it as best she could before finishing up by wrapping a bandage around his arm, holding the dressing in place.

"There, much better." she said, looking up at him.

"Thank you Lizzie." he returned, rolling his sleeve back down.

Liev spoke up from the other side of the room. "Touching." he said sarcastically. "Don't get too comfortable with your pet FBI agents around Reddington. They never know when they might find their throats cut too." He said, his eyes boring into Reds.

Liz drew in her breath at that, remembering the horror of Meera bleeding out.

Red's face hardened as he turned to the Russian. He regarded him silently and intently. Beside him, Liz swallowed hard. She had seen that look on Red before - when he had calmly watched Gloriana Campo die, and when he had spoken to Stanley Kornish before pushing him into the acid bath. It was the flip side to Red's charm - the side that reminded her that this man could indeed become a monster. It was Red's 'when the time is right, I will kill you' look.

###

Liz left the kitchen, and after a visit to the bathroom, set out to find her partner. He wasn't in the living room, though she hadn't expected him to be. Stepping out the front door, she saw his silhouette in a lightning flash as he stood at the end of the porch, hands in his pockets. She walked up behind him, and he turned his head a little to acknowledge her presence.

"Figured it out yet?" she asked him, standing beside him at the railing now, facing the trees. She didn't need to know which specific thing he was figuring out, just that he'd needed some time alone to think.

He smiled a little and dropped his gaze, glancing sideways at her. She could read him like a book. He returned his gaze to the trees. "The storm is moving out." he said, and she looked up at the sky then. He was right, the intensity of the rain had dropped, and the thunder had quite a lag behind the lightning now. She looked at the ground in the next lightning flash, and saw the flooding hadn't dropped though. Everything was still underwater.

"How are we going to get out of here?" she asked him.

"I'm thinking we use the surveillance van as a prison transport. We can cuff Liev and Cole to the two fixed seats in the back. Red and Dembe follow in their vehicle. The biggest concern isn't getting down the mountain though. It's what's waiting for us at the bottom." He said, turning to face her then.

She nodded, knowing what he meant. "The river will be overflowing the banks. The bridge is probably under water."

"Or washed away." he added. She hadn't wanted to voice that fear, but knew he was right. The bridge could be completely gone.

"There will be trees down everywhere, blocking the road on the way down. We'll have to get through those too." she said, considering her recent attempt at moving just one large tree limb a few inches.

"We also have no cell signal. I already checked the van, and it's not sending or receiving any signal either. Whatever cell towers were in this area are down for sure. Struck by lightning and fried." He turned and leaned against the rail now, facing along the porch toward the front door. "We're on our own Liz. Even if Aram figures out where we are, it will take time to get a chopper up here. And the only place it could land is right out there in front of the vehicles, and it's a quagmire."

"So the question is, do we hole up here, or attempt to get down..." she said.

"Exactly..."

"I think we're safer here, to be honest. At least we have a roof over our heads." She said, looking at the rain still falling outside the covered porch.

"I know, but our best shot at getting a phone signal is at the base of the mountain closer to town." He said, looking at the pros and cons to both sides.

"Maybe things will be a bit clearer in the light of day. But for now, let's get back inside where it's a bit warmer." she said, shivering now as a breeze blew across them. They were both still in wet clothes and the temperature was dropping as night fell.

He was looking over at the two outer buildings, not quite ready to head in. "What was in the buildings, did you get to see?"

"A couple of vehicles. One looked old and run down and not likely to run. The other was a pick up truck that looked fairly decent. There was a large tractor mower too. I didn't get a good look, but there were tools on one wall." She said, recalling the dimly lit buildings.

"A mower, huh? That could work..." He mused, wanting to check out the contents of the buildings as soon as morning came.

###

The evening wore on, and while they mainly congregated in the dimly lit kitchen, they also explored the rest of the house. There were three bedrooms upstairs, and a guest room downstairs. They agreed to take turns guarding their prisoners but as it turned out, Dembe had assigned himself that task.

Liz was still trying to reason with him. "Dembe, you need some sleep too. So how about you take the first watch from midnight till 3am. Then we can take the second watch from 3am till 6am. It will be dawn then, and we can take a look outside and see…if we're getting out of here."

In the end she wasn't sure if he agreed or not, but was determined she and Ressler would take the second watch. Though looking across at Ressler, she didn't think he'd sleep anyway. He'd been prowling like a caged bear since they got back inside. For her part though, she was exhausted and needed a couple of hours of sleep. There was something she wanted to do first though. She motioned to Ressler, and he followed her down the hallway and into the guest room.

"I'm going to grab a couple of hours sleep, but before I do, we need to look at your ribs to see if any are broken…" She said quietly, knowing he wouldn't want Red or the others to hear that.

He looked down at her silently, and shook his head. Of course his ribs were cracked and hurt like hell, but there was nothing that could be done. She gave him an exasperated look.

"Let me guess. You're fine."

He smiled at her now, and nodded. "Liz, there is nothing you can do. They are cracked, yes, but my vest is tight around me keeping them in place. Best compression bandage money can buy." He grinned at that, trying to put her mind at ease.

She held the candle close to his middle now, looking at the vest, and reluctantly knew he was right. Something glinted in the candle light and she moved her fingers to his left side, touching something hard in his vest.

"This is a bullet!" she looked up at him now.

"Oh, yeah, courtesy of Jeremy Cole." He said, sharply drawing in a breath as she pressed too hard. She didn't need to be poking around like that, making him hurt more. He reached up to remove her hand from his side, but she dropped her hand now, realizing she was hurting him.

"Why did he shoot you?"

"Because I wanted him to think I was dead." He said calmly, his eyes shining in the candle light as she looked up quickly at that.

"What?!"

He smiled at her. "Oh, relax Liz, my plan worked perfectly. Well… until Liev showed up."

Sleep could wait for a bit. This, she needed to hear. "Sit down, and tell me everything that happened after I got out of the van."

He sat on a recliner, gingerly easing himself into it as she placed the candle by the bed. She kicked off her shoes and socks, then sat back on some plumped up pillows. He started to tell her what happened after he had let her out into the rain storm.

It didn't take too long, and he finished up with, "and next thing I knew, I heard the shot and thought I was dead, but it was you firing at Jessie Cole."

She returned the favor then, and told her how she had met Dembe in the large building, and how they had seen the sleeping man they now knew was Liev.

"How was he asleep in all that noise?" Ressler asked her, leaning his head forward off the back of the recliner, trying to figure that one out.

"Meditation maybe…" she wondered sleepily.

"Maybe…" Whatever it was, he didn't like the man being up here, knowing what his mission was. He looked over at her and could see her eyes drooping now.

"Get some rest Liz, and I'll wake you when it's our turn to relieve Dembe." He said, and made a move to get out of the chair – a move that made him catch his breath as his ribs complained loudly.

"Stay here…" she said sleepily, closing her eyes as she lay down on top of the covers now, drawing a blanket over her damp clothing. "Please…" she said as she drifted off to sleep, feeling safer with him there.

And he stayed there with her, settling back in the recliner, his mind unable to shut down while she slept.

###

Just before 3am Ressler quickly turned off his alarm before it could wake Liz, and went to check on Dembe and Red. Walking silently through the strange house, he drew his weapon out of instinct. He had his gun in his hand as he entered the kitchen, but saw that all was calm. Dembe looked up silently as Ressler entered the room, and nodded. Red was doing a crossword puzzle sitting at the table, while Dembe was ever vigilant, keeping Liev's rifle on the two cuffed men.

"Everything is okay, Agent Ressler." Said Dembe softly.

"Donald, nice of you to join us. I believe it's your turn now, though I doubt Dembe is going to give up his position."

"I don't sleep much. You may as well grab a couple of hours." Ressler told the man, but Dembe shook his head.

"You see?" smiled Red knowingly. "I've known this man to stay awake for days, and look none the worse for it. I on the other hand, well, at some point I do need my beauty sleep."

Ressler looked at him, and gave Red his half smile at that. The thought of Red needing 'beauty sleep' struck him as amusing. Perhaps because it was 3am and everything seems weirder and funnier in the middle of the night.

"Well, go take the recliner in the guest room and grab a couple of hours. I'll stay here with Dembe." He didn't add that Liz would feel safer waking up to someone there with her. And as Red got up and headed to the guest room, it suddenly struck Ressler how strange that was. How much things really had changed. He had just sent his greatest enemy (who he knew was no longer his greatest enemy) to 'guard' his … best friend. He sat down at the kitchen table then, thinking. Liz really was his best friend. It only took being stranded in the middle of nowhere at 3am to realize that.

He looked over to Liev and Jeremy again. Jeremy was awake, calmly looking at the light rain hitting the window. Ressler wondered again how the guy could look that calm with two of his brothers dead. Liev was actually asleep in his chair. The man could apparently sleep anywhere. Ressler envied him.

Reddington had been right - as usual. In his note to him, when he'd sent his 'gift' of Tanida's head, he had told him 'there will be nightmares'. And he'd been right, and after too many nightmares to count, Ressler simply stopped sleeping as much. Dreams didn't come as often when you slept from sheer exhaustion.

So he stayed awake, something he'd become very good at in the months since Audrey had died. He did some of Red's crossword puzzle, tried his phone for a signal a few times, looked in on Liz on the bed and Red asleep in the recliner, and slowly, the light changed outside. The long night was over, and it was time to decide how they were going to get off this mountain.


	5. Chapter 5 - Morning Light

Standing on the front porch, Ressler looked out at the scene before him. It was daylight at last, and while still dreary and overcast, it felt bright after the dark afternoon and night they'd gone through. It was still raining, but compared to the deluge they'd had, this was nothing. It was the type of rain he'd previously have got his umbrella out for when dressed in a suit and tie, but today, he couldn't care less how much wetter he got. The door opened behind him, and Liz joined him.

"Okay, I'm ready...whoa..." she said, surveying the scene. It looked like a war zone. Now revealed in the light of day, exploded and shattered trees littered the entire forest. The ground lay under several inches of water in places, unable to drain any more due to the saturation of the soil.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" she asked him dubiously, rubbing her right knee.

"No, but we have no choice. We can't stay here indefinitely." He replied, looking at her. "What's wrong with your knee?" he asked.

"Oh, I banged it up when I was running to the buildings yesterday afternoon, and it's stiffened up overnight. And speaking of which, why didn't you wake me at 3am?" she asked him.

"Figured you needed your beauty sleep." He smiled, thinking of Red's comment. She just rolled her eyes at that.

He looked back at the outer buildings. "Come on, let's check out those buildings." He'd waited long enough, and was once again antzy to get on the move.

She followed him down the steps now, favoring her knee a little. Stepping into ankle deep water at the bottom of them, she was glad of her hiking boots. Making their way across what used to be the front lawn, their feet slid in the mud several times. Liz almost went down, and Ressler grabbed her arm instinctively, grimacing at the pain that brought him.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Here, I found these for you this morning." She fished something out of her pocket and handed it to him.

He took it from her, seeing that it was a sheet of 6 Codeine tablets for pain. He didn't relish the idea of the side effects though, with the drowsiness they would produce, not when he needed his wits about him. "Thanks, I'll keep them in case I need them." He said, slipping them in his back pocket. She gave him 'the look' again. Of course he needed them.

They reached the larger building and Ressler struggled with the stuck and waterlogged door. Liz was about to open it when he managed it himself with a grunt, trying not to show her how much that hurt. He knew he was failing in that department though.

"Why don't you just take one of those pills?" she asked.

"No."

"Right, because you're fine." she said, exaggerating the word 'fine'.

He ignored her comment. He was fine. Well... almost fine. "Let's see what we have in here." he said, getting back to the job at hand.

They left the door open to let in as much light as possible, and both shone their little flashlights about the place as they looked over the equipment inside. The pickup truck looked decent, but Ressler headed for the tractor mower. It was as he'd hoped, one of those actual tractors with the mower tacked on, almost as an afterthought. He shone his flashlight around the walls, looking for something. And saw it. A heavy duty snow blade - which could move branches out the way just as easily as snow.

"We got chainsaws here. Two of them. Looking for the gas cans now..." Liz called out from the other side of the building. He walked over to see if they were piddly little chainsaws or man-sized ones, and was relieved to see they were the larger ones. Things were looking promising, except they couldn't find any gas cans.

"I'll got check the other building, I know there was a bunch of stuff in there too." she said, and exited the building.

Ressler shone his flashlight up the ladder. He wanted to know what was up there, and gingerly made his way up, his breath catching as he hauled himself up the last step and into the loft. There was a cot in front of him. That would be where Liz and Dembe first saw Liev, he reasoned. There was something under the pillow and he reached down for it. A plain sheet of paper, and as he opened it, it had the names of their task force on it. This was the list that Red had mentioned. The White List? He thought. His stomach lurched when he saw Meera Malik's name crossed out, his mind back in the night club as they'd frantically held their hands against Meera's throat, begging her to hold on. Closing his eyes a moment, he swallowed hard, steadying himself. Harold Coopers name was also crossed out, because these people didn't know Cooper had survived - although Liev did now, thanks to Reddington. He shoved the list in his inside coat pocket and looked around the loft again. There was nothing else of interest, and he slowly made his way back down the ladder.

Liz came back inside a couple of minutes later, all smiles. "There are four gas cans over there, all full."

Things really were looking up. They had enough gas for the chainsaws.

Now all we need are a couple of lumberjacks to wield them and this will be a cake walk, he thought.

###

After stopping in at the cabin to let Dembe know about the tractor and snow blades, they headed back outside, leaving Red guarding Liev and Jeremy. Liz wasn't sure she was too comfortable with that, after seeing his look toward Liev the night before. She told Ressler about it as they walked past their van, heading for the driveway. He didn't like it, but he knew that Red wouldn't actually kill someone in cold blood. The man was capable of doing it, certainly, but he needed a reason to do so. And unless a reason was presented, Ressler was confident Red would just guard them. For now.

They reached the beginning of the driveway, and stopped dead. They could barely see where the drive way had been. Snapped and broken trees were strewn everywhere. They looked at each other silently. Okay, not such a cake walk, Ressler thought ruefully.

"This should be the worst part though," he told her, trying to convince himself as well as her, "as the road is much wider and we will have more room to drive around the trees out there."

"Right…" she replied quietly.

The unmistakable sound of a tractor engine fired up from behind them and they turned, seeing Dembe driving the tractor out of the building. He'd attached the large snow plow on the front, and was heading over toward them. Stepping out of his way in the muddy ground, he slowly approached them. The wide tires of the tractor were handling the sodden ground with no problem, which lifted their spirits somewhat.

He went past them now, nodding to each of them. Lowering the blade, he approached the first tree blocking the driveway. He kept moving slowly, and the tree moved completely out the way, pushed to the side by the snow blade. He proceeded to the next one, and again, it was pushed to the side. The third tree was larger, and was tangled up with a second branch. It moved, but not as completely. Dembe was undeterred. Grabbing a chainsaw he'd stowed on the tractor, he jumped down and fired it up. The roar filled the air as he cut through a narrower section of the tree, as sawdust flew in the morning air.

Ressler watched as Dembe effortlessly cut through the branch. And there's our lumberjack, he thought. This could work after all.

Dembe shut down the chainsaw and turned back to the tractor. He glanced over at Liz and smiled softly at her as he swung back up into the tractor cab. He was actually enjoying this, thought Liz.

###

Forty minutes later, Dembe had cleared the long driveway. Ressler had to admit, he was impressed with the big guy. He'd done it single handed, and hadn't even raised a sweat doing it. He sat calmly on the tractor now, waiting for their little convoy to move out.

Red and Ressler had handcuffed both Liev and Jeremy to the fixed chairs inside their surveillance van. Climbing into the front of the van now, with Liz in the passenger seat, Ressler looked back at the two men. They were keeping the small doorway open, and Liz was turned in her seat, her weapon drawn on them. Not the safest of situations, having a loaded gun cocked and ready in a moving vehicle, but they didn't trust either man. Liev gave her a look that she really didn't care for. Leering disdain is how she'd best describe it.

They were ready, and Dembe pulled out first, in their trail blazing tractor. They followed him in the van, and Ressler's fears that the van would immediately bog down in the mud almost came to fruition. He spun the wheels and reversed, turning a little and finally got some traction on what was left of the gravel driveway. Red followed in his car. Ressler had found it amusing to see Red behind the wheel. He'd never seen the man drive himself anywhere.

They followed the tractor slowly, driving over small saplings and twigs that littered the driveway after Dembe had cleared the larger limbs and branches. They had the added advantage that the tractor tracks had compressed some of the gravel and mud, giving them more traction. A short while later, they reached the end of the driveway and looked at the washed out gully that had formed across the entry to the driveway.

"Here goes…" said Ressler, and guided the van across the gully. The van lurched precariously and for a second or two they thought they were stuck fast, but they came up the other side, finally on the asphalt road. They stopped and waited for Red to drive across the ditch, and then continued on. Dembe was pushing the trees aside in front of them, just enough that both vehicles could follow him through. They came across a section that needed the chainsaw, and once again, he jumped down and began clearing it for them.

And in this small, slow moving convoy, they inched their way down the mountain. They slowly rounded the wide curve to the right, coming to the 'cliffs' on the upper side of the road. They could clearly see the washed out river above and below the cliffs, and debris was piled high on the downward side of the road. It would have been a sheer waterfall while it was raining hard. The amount of debris was slowing even Dembe down, and Ressler parked the van, and climbed down.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked him, knowing the answer to that.

"He needs help, or we'll never get past this." And with that he walked to the tractor.

She watched him grimace as he pulled the second chainsaw down, and then turned her attention back to the two prisoners. Jeremy Cole looked at her now.

"You know the bridge will be gone at the bottom. This is an exercise in futility." He said, and it surprised her. It was the first words she had actually heard him say at all.

"Getting across the river is only one reason we're heading down." She said, and he shook his head and looked away from her.

Red came up and joined Liz, and sat in the drivers seat of the van while Dembe and Ressler worked tirelessly in front of them. He looked pleasantly back through the small doorway to Liev and Jeremy. "I hope you two boys are playing nice back there."

"Put a sock in it, old man." Jeremy told him. Apparently he was over his silent phase, thought Liz.

Ressler dragged the chainsaw down from the tractor, wondering how he was going to do this. Easy, he told himself. Just grit your teeth and do it. And he did. He joined Dembe at a large tree completely blocking their way. Lifting the chainsaw, he started it up and pushed down the pain. Together they made much better progress.

After ten minutes, Ressler placed his chainsaw on the ground and stood up, his upper body trembling and nausea threatening. Gritting his teeth wasn't going to cut it any more. He needed more than that. Reaching into his pocket he looked at the 6 strong pain pills. Without them, he wouldn't be able to continue this. Reluctantly, he shoved one in his mouth, swallowing it down with an effort. He hoped it took effect fast. Giving himself a few minutes while the pill took effect, he walked back to the passenger side of the van.

"Donald. You look like hell." Red greeted him over cheerfully, as he held the gun on their prisoners now. Ressler just looked tiredly up at him.

Liz looked down at him worriedly. "You don't have to do this…" He looked up at her silently, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, and then took the bottle of water she handed him. He drank some of it gratefully.

"You got another one in that magic backpack of yours?" he asked, and she handed him one. He nodded his thanks and walked slowly back to the chainsaws. He gave Dembe the second bottle of water, and they took a break for a couple of minutes, before getting back to it.

It took a few minutes, but finally Ressler started to feel that familiar drawing sensation as the pain was seemingly pulled from his nerves by the codeine. Breathing much easier now, he picked up the pace and together they cleared the distance past the cliffs. Dembe jogged back to the tractor, and driving it forward, he pushed aside all the trees they had cut, giving them a clear pathway.

The chainsaws stowed, Red returned to his vehicle and Ressler climbed back in the van. Liz was relieved at how much better he looked. They moved off again, and made fair progress before they came to a stretch that was almost as bad as what they'd gone through at the cliff. Ressler looked across at Liz.

"Here we go again." And he hopped down to join Dembe. Yes, he hopped, thought Liz. Those pain pills were good.

###

They had been clearing this stretch for about 20 minutes. Red was again sitting with Liz in the van, but Liz noticed him looking out the window more.

"What's wrong…?" she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"I'm not sure, but I think…" he didn't finish the sentence and climbed down from the van. Walking to a clearer area that gave some view down the mountain, he stood and looked at the sky. Something was brewing, he could feel it. Walking further down, he was able to see through some of the trees, and saw a long line of clouds. A shelf cloud, stretching almost from horizon to horizon, in the parts he could see. He looked up again, seeing the movement now in the upper parts of the tall pine trees. The wind was getting up, as it was being pushed out in front of that shelf cloud that was heading their way.

He walked briskly over to Ressler and Dembe, who were both busy looking down, chainsaws running.

Red walked around in front of them and got their attention. "Dembe!" He turned his chainsaw off and looked at his boss. Ressler followed suit, and placed his chainsaw on the tree in front of them. The pain pills were wearing off a bit now, and he was glad of the rest.

"We need to take cover!" Said Red, and Ressler looked around quickly. "What? Why?"

In the van, Liz was growing worried. She stepped out and walked toward the men.

"Look at the trees!" shouted Red, as a sudden wind whipped past them. They all looked up. The top of the tall pine trees that were still standing were being whipped from one side to the other as the wind hit them hard.

"The ground is too wet! They will fall! We need to take cover!" said Red urgently. Ressler had never heard that tone in Red's voice and he listened to it now, looking back at the van. "Not in the vehicles, Donald!"

Cover…where could they take cover… He closed his eyes, remembering. He had studied the map and looked over this mountain on his computer, looking at the lay of the land just as he would a street map in a city. He concentrated, feeling the wind pulling at his clothing now, seeing the road on the mountain, and the features he had seen around it. He heard a loud crash some distance from them. A tree had come down. His eyes sprang open. He knew where they could go now.

"That way!" he yelled at Red and Dembe. "There is a rocky outcrop with an overhang, down there! It will protect us!" He ran toward Liz now, grabbing her arm as she walked toward him.

"Run Liz! Down that way!"

She heard the panic in his voice and had seen the tree come down further behind him.

"Liev and Cole!" she suddenly yelled now, pointing to the van. "We can't leave them in there!"

She was right. The van stood right under the trees, and it would be crushed. Mind you, they could be crushed while running under falling trees. But at least they would know they hadn't left the two men there helplessly.

"Damn it." He turned, motioning to Red, yelling at him over the wind to keep going. Red and Dembe heard him, and kept running in the direction Ressler had given. He turned to the van, and threw open the back doors.

"Okay gentleman, change of plans. And don't try anything!" He quickly uncuffed one wrist off Liev, slipped it out of the chair and recuffed him while Liz held the gun to his head. Ressler didn't uncuff Liev completely, but gave the man a chance to run safely by recuffing his hands in front of him. But they still held a gun on him.

Ressler went to Jeremy and uncuffed the first wrist quickly. But Jeremy was ready for him. He sprang from the chair, punched Ressler hard in the lower left ribs, right where he had shot him, then slammed into Liz, knocking her to the floor. He took off running, flying out the back of the van, leaving the two of them scrambling to find their feet.

Ressler was glad of the residue of the pain pills, or he'd never have got to his feet. He grabbed Liz's arm and hauled her up.

"Leave him! We have to go!"

She looked at him. "We can't let him go!"

"We can't do anything for him! Go!" and he almost shoved her out of the van now.

He didn't have time to argue, as a tree fell very close to the van. Jumping out the back he held his weapon on Liev who was still standing there, looking fearfully up at the swaying trees. Ressler looked up too and his heart leapt. Trees shouldn't move like that. They were moving so hard in the upper winds that they were being pushed straight over, their roots unable to hold in the rain saturated earth. Another crashed to the ground right behind the van, landing on the road near them.

"Oh my God!" screamed Liz, horrified. She looked past the fallen tree, and saw Jeremy Cole running back up the road toward the cabin. He was quickly lost to sight as he headed around a pile of trees on the road.

"Run!" The three of them ran as fast as they could, dreading moving under the trees. If they had any chance at taking cover, it was in that rocky ridge that lay below them. Ressler hoped like hell he'd remembered the map correctly.

Trying to stick to the more open areas, they ran swiftly, their chests heaving. A tree toppled right in front of them and fell straight down. Its root ball lay on the sodden ground, unable to hold the weight up as the upper winds hit it.

Another tree fell beside it, and Ressler looked in horror as more started to come down. Where the hell is that ridge?! They dodged around the upper branches of a downed tree now, and heard another coming down to their left.

Liz screamed, and Ressler turned quickly in her direction and saw the tree coming down, perilously close to them. He grabbed her arm and hauled her, increasing his speed as the tree fell right behind them, its supple upper branches hitting them. She screamed again, terrified.

They could finally see the rocks in the distance now, stretching out along the ridge in front of them. It would shelter them - if they could get there.

Liev was still running in front of him, far more afraid of the falling forest than any gun on him. He ran straight for the ridge, understanding their target now. Red and Dembe were under the overhang, urging them on.

Liz screamed again at the sound of several trees coming down at once now, their weight causing a domino effect. She sucked in air as they hurtled down the incline toward the ridge. More trees were falling, and another came crashing down, narrowly missing her.

She was running right behind Ressler when another tall tree came down, and struck her with the outer branches. They were supple and gave way around her as she ran, dodging her way through them. Another three trees toppled together off to their left. She looked at them in horror as they fell straight down together, crashing onto the ground. She screamed again.

And froze completely.

He heard Liz scream right behind him, and suddenly saw Dembe come out from under the over hang, charging up toward them. He looked back and saw Liz just standing there. He spun back to her.

"Liz! You have to move! Move it!"

She was wide eyed, and shaking. Screaming. She couldn't move.

Ressler looked up in horror as a tree fell right toward them. He grabbed her, literally picked her up and held her, his lower ribs finally giving way as he did so. He flung her to the ground away from the tree as both of them rolled out the way, narrowly missing being crushed under the falling tree.

They were on the ground. He was struggling to get up when Dembe reached them.

"Take her! Take her!" Ressler yelled at him, finding his feet now.

Dembe swooped her up, and held her as she buried her face in him. He looked at Ressler, who yelled at him above the wind.

"Go!"

Dembe did. He ran with Liz in his arms, narrowly escaping another tree that crashed down in his path. He swerved, still holding her and kept on running.

Ressler was on his feet again, sprinting. His left side was on fire. But far better risking a punctured lung than crushed under a tree. He forced himself onward. Two trees toppled together, dragging each other down and fell right beside him. He could see the ridge. He was almost there.

Dembe reached the safety of the ridge and skidded to a stop under the overhang. Dropping to his knees, he gently laid Liz on the ground. Red reached down to her, crouching down beside her as she lay there wide eyed and shaking.

Ressler scrambled out of the way of another falling tree, its outer branches hitting him as it fell. He was clear now. No more trees and the ridge was right in front of him. He ran under it, slamming into the back and fell to his knees panting. He closed his eyes, slipping down to a sitting position, the rocky wall behind him.

"Donald! Are you hurt?"

Of course I'm hurt. I'm always hurt. He opened his eyes now, and ignored Red.

Looking out from under the overhanging rock, the trees were dropping fast now as the wind whipped up to a fury. Dozens of them now, falling into each other, causing a cascade effect. If they had taken any longer to get here…he knew they would not have survived.

A tree suddenly fell on the ridge, leaning down over the opening. More trees fell around them, falling like matchsticks. Tree trunks lined the ridge. But they were safe under it. The rocks protected them.

Leaning down, or falling down, he wasn't sure which, he lay beside Liz, looking at her intently.

"Liz!" he reached his hand to her face, cupping her cheek.

"What's wrong with her?!" he turned back to Red.

"Her body shut down when it couldn't cope with the fear." Red said worriedly.

Ressler turned back to her, feeling her shaking under his hand. "Can she be moved?"

"She needs to be held and made to feel safe Donald. I believe that can be achieved, don't you?" Red said to him, crouching down to him now, looking at him pointedly.

Ressler nodded, and sat back again, grimacing at the pain in his lower ribs again. Trembling with the pain across his middle, he got himself supported against a smoother area on the rocks. Dembe then lifted Liz, and half sat her on Ressler's lap. He held her now, sitting on the ground with his arms around her, cradling her close to him. Dropping his hand quickly to his pocket, he dragged out the pill packet with one shaking hand. He held it to Red.

"I need one of these." He said breathlessly. Red complied and popped a pill out for him. He opened Liz's backpack and took out the last bottle of water. He handed both to Ressler who was now visibly shaking from the pain. He quickly swallowed the pill, and put the remaining 4 in his pocket. Closing his eyes against the pain, he leaned his head forward, resting his chin on Liz's hair, and wrapped his arms around her.

###

Ressler hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep until he woke with a start. Leaning back against the wall, still holding Liz, he remembered where he was. Red was sitting beside him, also leaning against the smoother rocks at their backs. Dembe and Liev were a few feet away on the other side. Dembe had taken back his position of prison guard, apparently.

The effect of the pain pills was keeping Ressler's pain level at bay for now. He dropped his head to look down at Liz. She seemed to be asleep too. He looked sideways at Red, who regarded him calmly.

"She'll be okay. She fell asleep right after you did." He said, looking into her face. "Just keep holding her and let her wake up on her own." He said softly beside him.

He nodded, and his gaze then landed on the scene outside the overhanging rocks again. He'd never seen anything like it. Trees were lying on their sides all over the ridge in front of him, and blocking a lot of his view. Yet many were still standing, the trees that weren't as tall, he noticed.

Aware of not wanting to wake Liz, he kept his voice low. "What the hell was that?" he hissed at Red.

"A derecho." Said Red.

"A what…?"

"Straight line winds that precede thunderstorms. You missed the actual thunderstorm. It passed over very quickly after the winds died down." Red informed him.

"We have to get back through all those trees to get back to the road…" said Ressler, not looking forward to that.

"Yes and no. I've been looking at it, and look over there to your right." Ressler followed where he was pointing, and saw a narrow strip of land that had no trees, standing or toppled, on it.

"That's a ski run…I didn't see that on the map I studied."

"No? Well, I for one am glad you studied that map at all Donald, and knew this ridge was here."

Ressler felt Liz move on his lap, and then heard a sleepy voice from her. "Will you two please be quiet…I'm tryin' to sleep here…"

Red smiled then, looking at Ressler. "See, she's fine."

Ressler shifted a little under her weight, stopping as his ribs hurt him.

"Oh, and Donald?" Red asked him, looking at him again. "Where is Jeremy Cole?"

Ressler looked out at the downed trees, and shook his head. He had no idea how any one would survive the brunt of that storm.

"I don't think we have to worry about him anymore." He said, hoping he was right.


	6. Chapter 6 - Liev

Ressler wasn't sure he'd ever see a day again where it wasn't grey, dreary and raining. As he sat on the ground with Liz asleep on his lap, he could feel the dampness almost settling into his bones, causing a steady ache in his body. The fact he also had a couple of broken ribs and a few cracked ones might also have had something to do with that, he thought. He was almost thankful that his legs had fallen asleep with the weight of Liz sitting on his lap for the past hour or so. At least it was one less part of his body that hurt right now.

He looked at Red sitting beside him. The man was 20 years older than him, and he had to be feeling this too. Plus he had a gunshot wound on his forearm. A forearm, he now noticed, that was bleeding afresh, judging by the new stains on his shirt sleeve.

"That arm bothering you?" he asked Red.

"This? Oh this is just a flesh wound Donald. I'm fine." said Red, shrugging it off.

"If either of you says 'I'm fine' one more time..." Liz raised her head off Resslers chest (for which his ribs were eternally grateful) and looked at Red. They hadn't realized she had woken up again.

"Well, good morning again, Lizzie." said Red pleasantly. "How are you feeling?" he asked, this time with genuine concern.

"I'm fine." she said, and then stopped. She groaned inwardly as both men raised their eyebrows and looked pointedly at her, both suppressing a smile. "Point taken - but I really AM fine, unlike you two!" she said, grinning then, as Red chuckled and Ressler gave her one of his full smiles.

"You three should get a room." A disgusted Liev suddenly said, while standing beside Dembe.

The smiles disappeared. Ressler glared at the man, unaware he'd drawn Liz a little closer in a protective move as he did so. Red's face took on that warning look again, and Dembe raised the rifle a little more. Liev stood there with his hands cuffed in front of him, looking at them a moment more. He then glanced at Dembe, then dropped his eyes to look at his own rifle aimed at him.

"But fine, you have the upper hand." He said, and then looked sharply at them. "For now."

Ressler didn't care for the man's tone, nor the open threat. The sooner they got off this mountain and got him into 'real' custody, the better.

"Be very careful, Liev." Said Red, in a tone that Ressler found even more disturbing.

Red turned back to Liz, dismissing the Russian and instantly turning on his Lizzie Face (as Ressler had dubbed it). The one where he looked at her, with knowledge known only to him, in a manner that was unmistakably caring. He climbed to his feet now, retrieving his coat that he'd been sitting on. Reaching down, he offered Liz his hand and she took it. On her feet now, she looked silently outside at the downed trees. Red rubbed her back, standing beside her.

"You survived it Lizzie. You're fine." he said gently.

"I know. And I am fine. I just lost it there for a moment. All those trees...trees just don't fall like that..." she shook her head in disbelief, looking at the downed forest in front of them.

Red smiled at her, patted her back and then turned to look at Ressler who was still sitting on the ground. "Care to join us, Donald?"

Ressler was trying to move his numb legs that would soon have that torturous pins and needles feeling crawling all over them. "Sure, just as soon as I get some feeling back in my legs."

###

Twenty minutes later, they stood outside the overhang of the ridge, looking at what lay below them. The hillside dropped away sharply below the overhanging of rocks they had taken shelter under. The ridge ran right along this side of the mountain, separating the upper and lower portions starkly. Above it, a fairly gentle slope – the one they had careened down almost two hours earlier, dodging falling pine trees. Below them, the mountain dropped off sharply - almost sheer cliffs in places, and a steep, rocky incline in other sections.

They turned and looked toward their target for reaching the road again. The clear grassed area running up the side of the mountain. Between where they stood now and the cleared area, trees were down. However, because they were closer to the rocky ridge, there were far fewer trees than further up on the ridge. They could make it 'fairly' easily and only need to bypass a few trees to reach the clear area. It looked like a good plan, except for one detail.

They were going to have to walk above an almost sheer cliff face to reach the grassy run.

That knot that had started in Ressler's stomach the evening before came right back at the sight of that. "Let's roll." He said, and they started out. Dembe pushing Liev in front of him, his rifle trained on him. Ressler followed them, with Liz and Red bringing up the rear. Ressler could hear them talking behind him, but didn't tune in to their private conversation.

The going was surprisingly easy, compared to what they had imagined it would take to get back up to the road. The grass under their feet was saturated and spongy, and it was more than a little disconcerting walking on it near a sheer drop off. Tall trees lay to their left, and some had toppled right over the embankment that lay a few feet to their right. They walked around them, detouring where necessary to keep in a fairly straight path toward the grassy run. Once or twice, they had no choice but to scramble over a tree trunk. Ressler managed in a fairly ungainly manner. Sitting on his butt on the tree trunk and scooting over the truck, trying not to use his arms as much as possible. Their line strung out a little longer as Dembe and Liev moved further ahead, and Liz and Red dropped back a little.

They could see the cleared area now, and could now see pylon bases in the ground. It had been cleared to run power lines across the mountain and wasn't a ski run as they'd first thought. Ressler looked up the ridge to their left again, at the trees piled up like matchsticks. How much worse would it have been if they had to climb over all of those fallen trees. The few they had gone over were hard enough. In fact, the more he looked, the more he didn't believe they'd have been able to get back up the ridge at all through that mess.

He heard a shout as something slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

It was Liev.

He had turned back suddenly and head butted Ressler, knocking both of them to the ground. They rolled, perilously close to the cliff face to their right.

Ressler was on his belly, his ribs on fire, momentarily unable to move. Liev was closer to the drop off, his legs hanging over the edge. Ressler looked into his eyes and saw Liev smiling at him. A sick grin that made Ressler's heart skip a beat.

"You're coming with me, ginger." Grabbing Ressler's left arm, he moved closer to the edge, dropping his legs down now.

"No! No!" he heard Liz shriek.

Ressler felt himself being dragged to the edge, as Liev's weight pulled him. Liev was almost out of sight now

"Today, we die together."

Liev jumped, still holding Ressler's arm.

Ressler felt two things simultaneously - someone suddenly sitting on his legs to hold him on the ridge - and a wrenching pop as his left shoulder was dragged out of its socket as Liev jumped, still clinging to him, determined to drag Ressler to his death along with himself.

Ressler screamed out in pain, his arm stretched impossibly, still held by Liev as the man refused to let go.

"Dembe! Grab him!" Red yelled. Ressler realized it was Red sitting on his legs.

Dembe was suddenly by him, and in one motion, he grabbed Liev's cuffed hands, dragging him back up onto the ridge with both hands.

Liev struggled against Dembe. "Let me go!"

Dembe ignored him, hauling him back up to the cliff face. He forcibly removed Liev's cuffed hands from Ressler's arm, eliciting another howl of pain from Ressler. Dembe turned and punched Liev full in the face, knocking him out. He lay sprawled on the ridge now, out cold.

"Ressler!" Liz was beside him now.

Red lifted up off his legs now and came to his side, looking at the agent's left arm. "Donald, your shoulder is dislocated."

"No shit, Red! He panted through gritted teeth.

"Then you know we have to reset it."

"No." He'd had enough of people pulling on his arm for the moment. "Just… help me up." He grunted, his jaws clenched against the pain.

He was unable to move his own arm, a feeling that was both surreal, and terrifying. Dembe pulled him back up onto his knees, as Red held his arm stopping it from swinging too far. On his knees now, Liz looked at him. His face was ghostly white, and sweat had sprung out on his forehead with the pain.

"Ress, which pocket are your pain pills in?" She asked, looking at him worriedly.

"Right…rear…" he panted.

She reached into his pocket, but found no pills. She checked his left pocket, then checked his jacket pockets. The pain pills were gone. "They're not here!" She said, alarmed. He met her eyes at that. Just great.

"Donald, can you stand?"

He didn't know if he could, but nodded anyway. He needed desperately to get away from the edge of the cliff. He felt Dembe haul him up now, Red supporting his left arm, then stood swaying on his feet. He was trembling with the pain, as his body tried desperately to adjust to a bone sitting out of place.

"Get me… away…" He couldn't finish the sentence, but ALL of them wanted to get away from that cliff face. Dembe threw Ressler's right arm over his shoulder, and helped the FBI agent move away from the cliff.

Ressler staggered, and would have fallen if not for Dembe holding him up. They moved back slowly from the cliff, and Ressler stopped near a downed tree trunk, needing to sit before he fell.

As if in added insult to their situation, the skies opened up and rain began to fall in earnest.

###

"Donald, look at me." Red's face was leaning down toward him as he sat on the tree trunk, concern etched in his features.

"If we don't get this shoulder back in place very soon, it will be almost impossible once the swelling sets in. I need to do this now." Rain dripped down Red's face, causing a drop of rain to catch at the base of his nose. Ressler found himself unable to stop looking at it, watching it fall, only to be replaced by another drop almost immediately.

"Donald!" Red's hand patted Ressler's cheek then, forcing the agent to concentrate. "I need to do this right now."

Dragging his eyes from the drip of rain on Red's nose, Ressler looked into the criminal's eyes. Of course he knew it needed to be done. That didn't mean he wanted it done. He nodded. "Then... do it." he gasped, then closed his eyes against the pain. Somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind, deja vu reared it's ugly head. Memories of a glass box, of Reddington needing to set his leg alight, and Ressler telling him to do it.

After fashioning a makeshift sling from a scarf in Liz's backpack, they carefully got his jacket off, showing them for the first time the misshapen shoulder. Red and Liz helped him lay down on the tree trunk now. Ressler bit his lip, but didn't cry out. This was getting to be a habit - laying down in agony while Red helped him.

Red then motioned for Dembe to hold the upper part of Ressler's arm. "When I give the word, you move his upper arm steadily outward, while I move his lower arm downward. No fast movements Dembe, just steady."

The black man nodded to his boss, and positioned his big hands gently on Ressler's upper arm now. Ressler gasped at the jolt of pain that shot up his shoulder as the man touched him. Liz leaned over him, standing on the other side of him from Red and Dembe. Involuntarily, her hand reached up to Ressler's wet hair. As if somehow she could prevent the pain just by being there. She caught Red's glance then.

"Lizzie, distract him while we do this." he said, almost in her ear. She could barely hear him over the rain hitting the downed trees around them now. Distract him? From this? She'd give it her best shot.

Reddington placed his hands on Ressler's lower arm and hand. Ressler flinched, letting out an involuntary cry as another stab of pain reached his shoulder. Liz looked at him, and stroked his wet hair again. She looked fearfully at Red, wanting this to be over almost as much as Ressler did.

"Donald, hold on. Here we go." Red told him, and Ressler stiffened, dreading what was coming, increasing the pain in his shoulder. Dembe felt the muscles tighten in the arm he was holding as Red gave the word.

"Now, Dembe."

Hot pain lit up his entire left arm as Red slowly tried to pull his hand downward. Dembe tried to move his upper arm outward, but the muscles had tightened, making it harder.

Ressler's head fell back as he cried out. No! He couldn't do this! His right arm flailed up, trying to stop Red, but he couldn't reach him. Liz caught his arm, and held it in her hands as she leaned closer. "No, don't fight it, I'm right here...look at me..." said Liz in his ear, clutching his arm to her, but he wasn't listening. Hot agony shot up his left arm as bone moved against bone in an impossible dance inside his shoulder. No! God no! His breathing heaved in his chest, causing even more pain. If he could have got up off that tree and fled, he would have.

"Lizzie!" Red hissed, looking pointedly at her now.

Distract him! Right! She looked down at Ressler.

And planted her lips on his mouth, kissing him hard.

Ressler's eyes flew open, and all he could see was Liz. Her lips were impossibly soft as his mouth opened up under hers in surprise. His body was caught off guard and his muscles relaxed in reflex. Red felt the change, as did Dembe, and in that instant Red pulled Ressler's arm firmly downward as Dembe moved it outward. With a final grating of bone against bone, his arm slid perfectly back into position inside his shoulder socket. Bitter and sweet, hard and soft, the pain of his shoulder offset by the softness of Liz's lips.

It was over in seconds.

She released his lips, held her mouth an inch from his as his eyes locked onto hers. He quivered under her. What the hell just happened? She cupped his cheek in her hand then, the taste of him still on her lips. A mixture of muskiness, salt and rainwater. A wave of pain hit him then as Red gently placed his left arm across his belly, holding it in place with his hand. Ressler closed his eyes again, gasping as Dembe deftly lifted his head a little and positioned the makeshift sling to hold his arm in place, strapping it against his belly. When he opened his eyes, Liz had moved to the side of him. He rolled his head to look at her.

His arm now supported by the sling, Liz watched the features relax somewhat in his face, as the unbearable agony in his shoulder was now much abated. His breathing was becoming steadier, by the rise and fall of his chest in front of her. She stroked his hair, and suddenly became aware of Red and Dembe watching her.

"Um, right." Okay, distraction successful. Yes. She removed her hand from his hair.

"Excellent distraction technique, Lizzie." smiled Red knowingly. Dembe grinned at her.

The rain saturated woods came back into sharp focus around her now. She was still holding Ressler's right hand in hers. Ignoring Red and Dembe (or trying to), she looked down at Ressler again.

"You okay?" she asked him. His eyes were closed against the rain falling in his face.

He nodded now. "Just give me… a minute," he panted, "and I'll be… raring to go."

"Yes, because you're 'fine', right?" she asked, smiling now.

He nodded, swallowing hard. Of course he was.

###

When Ressler was able to get to his feet a little while later, assuring them he was fine (and ignoring Liz's snicker), they set off again. Dembe had retrieved the now conscious Liev from the tree, and cuffed his hands in front of him. He held the man's arm now, not letting him out of his sight.

Ressler walked between Red and Liz, getting the impression they were both there to catch him if he fell. He didn't need that though. The pain was in his shoulder and chest - his legs were fine. He looked at each of them as they walked in the rain, but decided not to say anything.

Red apparently didn't have any qualms. "I must say Donald, that scarf you're wearing is very becoming of you. The lilac really brings out the blue in your eyes."

"Shut up."

Liz laughed on the other side of him, looking at her scarf that they had used for a makeshift sling. It had been stashed at the bottom of her backpack, and while looking for anything they could use to immobilize his arm she had produced it.

Red chuckled and patted Ressler on the back.

"Ow."

"Ooops, sorry Donald."

"No you're not."

And Liz lost it all over again, laughing hard, meeting the sideways look Ressler gave her. After almost having a heart attack at seeing Liev dragging Ressler over the cliff, she felt immense relief at hearing Red and Ressler in usual form, bouncing off each other. And with the way Red was teasing Ressler, she realized he was also relieved his favorite punching bag was okay.

From in front of them, Dembe glanced back, enjoying hearing their laughter in this wet landscape.

They had started their ascent now, leaving the rocky ridge and cliffs and were finally making headway back up to the road. The going was fairly easy, though the ground was muddy and slippery. More than once their feet slipped on the wet grass as the rain poured down, but they plowed on. Ressler ended up putting his right arm around Liz's shoulders after she almost went down again. Just to keep her from falling, of course.

"Who's supporting who here?" she asked him, smiling, rain running down her face. She could feel him leaning on her at times when he grimaced in pain.

"You noticed that, huh? Just don't fall or it won't be pretty when we both go down." He said as she leaned into him.

"How's your shoulder doing?" she asked him, then glanced at him as he silently met her eyes, recalling her 'distraction technique'. They weren't sure how to address that. Ressler took the situation in hand though. "I'm fine." He told her, smiling as she groaned at him.

Toward the top, they stopped for a breather. Yes, it was pouring with rain, but they were so wet and so used to it, they didn't even think about it. They briefly looked at the trees to shelter under, but none of them felt too confident standing under them just yet. Instead, they sat on the wet grass and leaned against the concrete footings of the future pylons, looking down toward the rocky ridge below them. Dembe held Liev at gunpoint a few feet off to their side.

"What else do you have in that magic backpack of yours?" Ressler asked Liz, after grunting at the sudden jolt of pain at sitting down.

She rummaged through it, and produced a few sorry looking health bars. Still wrapped, a little bent out of shape, but definitely edible. She shared them out among them, even offering Liev one. He ignored her.

"We better eat these too, before they get even more bruised," and handed them each an apple, tossing one to Dembe.

"You'd make an excellent Boy Scout, Lizzie. So prepared." Said Red, smiling at her as he bit into the apple.

She looked at Ressler at the mention of Boy Scout, and he glanced at her silently, his eyes smiling. His mind went back to their stop at the gas station where she had walked out with two shopping bags, before they'd headed up here. Was that only yesterday morning?! It felt like they'd been running around on this mountain for a week.

###

They finally made it to the top and stood in sight of the paved road again a few hundred yards up from where they had parked. Power lines were down and cables were strewn along the grass by the road. They had to cross those, and they stood looking at them.

"The power is more than likely still off, so we 'should' be okay." Said Ressler dubiously. He knew the power was still off, and could see the cables ripped out of the poles. But still, these were high voltage power lines after all, and it paid to be careful.

Red looked at Liev. "I'm sure Liev here would oblige and test that theory for us." Liev glared at him.

Dembe finally took a step over the power cables, pushing Liev in front of him. It was perfectly safe, and the others followed suit. Ressler suddenly felt like the little boy in Jurassic Park, climbing the electric fence as the power was slowly coming back on. He couldn't get past them quick enough. They cleared them without incident, standing on the road at last.

As they walked back down to the vehicles, still unseen around the next bend, they noticed surprisingly few trees down on the actual road. Those that had fallen were either climbed over, or walked around. What concerned them the most though were the trees that were half uprooted and hadn't fallen, balancing precariously over the road as they walked under them.

The rounded the corner, and groaned. Red's car was buried under the upper branches of a tree, and trapped by another tree that had fallen right in front of it. As they walked closer they saw the van. It was completely crushed under the weight of two trees. If they had taken shelter in there – or left Jeremy Cole and Liev inside - no one would have survived.

The mower had fared the best though. The top canopy was bent under the weight of a tree, but it had withstood the impact very well. They stopped at Red's car, but couldn't even access the doors under the branches. They approached the van, making their way around the two trees that lay across it, and walked to the mower. Ressler was looking for the chain saws, and spotted them under a tree. Dembe crawled under and retrieved one of them, after handing the rifle to Red to hold on Liev.

They heard a loud cracking noise right behind them. One of the trees that was half out of the ground suddenly gave way, startling them. Red looked back in reflex, and at that moment, Liev swung his arms around, hitting him in the face. Ressler reacted, but was too late.

Red fell back, his lower lip bleeding, and Liev grabbed the rifle from his arms, swinging it around and pointing it at Liz.

Instinctively, Ressler jumped in front of her.

"So, you want to die today after all, ginger." Said Liev, looking at them both. "And you can take the pretty lady with you too."

He aimed the rifle.

Red was on his feet behind Liev now and in one move swiped Jessie Cole's knife down Liev's right arm, causing him to drop the rifle, blood spurting from his forearm.

Ressler ran, and picked up the rifle, wincing in pain as his arm swung out too far. He fumbled with it, unable to hold the rifle on Liev one handed, but stopped the Russian from picking it up again. Liz was at his side now and she took it, holding it on Liev now.

Liev turned on Red, teeth bared as blood ran from his sliced arm, rivulets of it running down his arm in the rain. "Is that all you've got?"

Red regarded him calmly, a cold look in his eyes. "Not at all Liev. That was just for Harold." He swung the knife, cleanly slicing Liev's throat.

"But THAT is for Meera."

Blood spilled everywhere as Liev looked at him in utter disbelief, his hands flying to his throat. He dropped to his knees, his mouth open, unable to make a sound with his vocal chords cut.

"No!" Liz yelled, looking at Liev fall to the ground now. Blood pumped out onto the road, causing a large pool that not even the heavy rain could wash away. "Why did you do that?!"

Red crouched down to the bleeding man laying on the ground, looking into his dying eyes. "I'm not like Agent Ressler. I don't play by the rules. You're not going to kill anyone here today. Have a pleasant after life, Liev."

Ressler had been frozen to the spot and finally moved. "We needed him alive!" He yelled at Red, storming over to him. He looked down at Liev, seeing the cut throat, the blood, and it was Meera all over again. He looked away, closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

"Dammit Red!" He let out a strangled cry of complete frustration, turned and walked away, unable to look at all that blood pouring out onto the road.

Liz looked at Red in horror.

He regarded her calmly, folding the knife and dropping it back in his pocket. "Lizzie, this man would have killed both of you. I was not going to let him do that. You may call me a monster, and you would be right. But no one takes you from me."

She glared at him, her heart pounding in her chest, shaking her head at him. She dragged her eyes away from him and looked toward Ressler, still storming away from them. She went to follow him, but Red stopped her.

"Let him be Lizzie. Some things a man just has to deal with alone."

She looked at Red again, then back to Ressler, feeling helpless. She looked at Liev, lying dead on the road now. All that blood took her right back to her hands being shoved around Meera's throat as they had tried desperately to save her.

She couldn't believe it when she started to cry.

And fought it when Red gathered her into his arms.

"No! No!" she pummeled his chest with her hands, not wanting him to hold her. Until suddenly she did and stopped hitting him, and sobbed against his chest in the pouring rain.


	7. Chapter 7 - The River

As Ressler walked away from Red, he really didn't know what he was angrier about. The fact that Red had just killed their suspect, or the fact it had brought back memories that showed him he wasn't handling things as well as he'd thought. The slit throat. The blood. It was Meera all over again. It was Audrey, with blood spilled on a roadway. He had turned and left, attempting to walk off memories that were never going to be walked off. But at least he could escape the sight of the blood.

Walking around fallen trees, he sidestepped streams of water flowing down the road and kept his head lowered against the downpour. Right now, he actually welcomed the rain. It enveloped him in a misty shield, and gave him some privacy. He had expected Liz to follow him, and was glad she hadn't. He wasn't very good company right now. He came to the clear run where they had come up from the ridge and stopped, carefully sitting down on a fallen tree. He sat looking, but not really seeing the slope. His ribs and shoulder were throbbing, the pain making him feel a little nauseous. He'd give anything for one of those pain pills right now.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, knowing it wouldn't have a signal yet. It didn't disappoint. He turned it back off to conserve the battery power, noting it was down to 61% remaining. Wiping the rain off it as best he could, he shoved it back in his inside jacket pocket.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when he heard Liz's voice over the sound of the pouring rain.

"Ressler!"

He glanced sideways in her direction, then dropped his gaze to the ground again. He might have known it wouldn't have taken her long to come after him. Walking briskly in the rain, almost jogging, her hair hung wet around her face. She approached him and then sat beside him on the fallen tree. He didn't say anything, just looked at the ground in front of him.

"You okay?" she asked, out of breath from the exertion.

"Yes."

She looked at him, saw the clench of his jaw as he continued looking at the rivers of water on the ground. "That was..."

"Yes." he interrupted her. He knew what it was. It had been damn difficult. He licked his bottom lip, and then looked sideways at her. He realized then that she had been crying, though her tears were gone now.

"You alright?"

She nodded to him, smiling ruefully. He held her gaze a moment, before changing the subject for both their sakes.

"Liz, we need to try and find Jeremy Cole. We don't know that he didn't make it out of this..." he looked around them at the fallen pine trees.

She nodded to him. "If he stuck to the road, he may have been able to dodge the trees…" she trailed off, looking up the road into the mist and then back at him. He wasn't looking too good, and she could see the pain was getting to him now. They needed to get out of here. In the distance, they heard a chainsaw fire up. Dembe, of course, starting to clear the way again.

"But we also need to know if the bridge is passable at the river. Though, I doubt it is. But we need to know…and try and get off this mountain, Ress." She omitted to add 'and get you some medical attention'.

He nodded, before he carefully stood up from the fallen tree, wincing in pain as he did so. He wasn't sure if he had it in him to walk back up this mountain, but he had to try. The rain drummed steadily around them, flooding the already saturated ground. He looked nervously at the trees half out of the ground. The rain water was pooling around their half torn up roots, and it wouldn't take much for the rest of them to fall.

He reached for her arm as she jumped off the tree trunk, and in silent accord, they walked back to Red and Dembe.

###

Dembe was making short work of the tree branches that covered Red's car. Having found the gas can under a tree, he had set to work immediately, not waiting to be asked. If there was one thing he knew about his boss, it was that he liked to be comfortable. And right now, the only place he could be comfortable was sitting in their vehicle. He worked quickly, sawing through the tree as if it were butter, the soft wood of the pine tree giving way easily under the chain saw. Clearing the car of the main tree, he set the chainsaw down and opened the back door for his boss. Reddington sat down gratefully.

"Thank you Dembe. You're a good man." he smiled.

He looked at his boss and nodded, then picked up the chainsaw again and headed over to the nearest tree. It was time to start clearing the road again.

Looking in the rear view mirror, Red saw Liz and Ressler approaching. He stepped out, motioning for Ressler to join him in the car.

"Donald, sit with me." He got back in the car, not waiting for Ressler's reply.

Ressler scowled, but obliged, while Liz went over to see if she could access the cab of their crushed van. He eased himself into the vehicle, shuddering at the sharp pain in his ribs as he did so. Closing the door, it suddenly felt strange not to have rain pouring down on him. He looked silently at Red, who then turned to him and spoke, getting right to the point.

"Regardless of what I did to Liev, it may surprise you to know that I also needed him alive. He would have given me information on who hired him, giving me information on my…nemesis." Red stopped and looked away a moment.

"Then why kill him?" Ressler shot back at him.

Red turned and looked at him squarely. "Donald, the truth is, you were never going to get anything out of Liev. He could never reveal who killed Meera because he didn't know. Whoever hired Liev gave him one task - to kill you and Lizzie. He wasn't privy to any other information on Meera or Harold, I can assure you of that. His one mission here today, was to dispose of the two of you. And that is all Liev knew. And I wasn't about to stand by and let that happen."

Ressler gritted his teeth, and shook his head. "He wasn't going to kill us. WE had the rifle!" He hissed at Red.

Red regarded Ressler a moment, and then shook his head. "You may have had the rifle right then, but that man was not going to stop until you and Lizzie were crossed off his Whitelist. He would have killed you, no doubt about it."

Ressler glared at him. "You think I'm that bad an agent?"

Again, Red looked at him a moment before answering. "Not at all Donald. I think you're an excellent agent." He said sincerely.

Ressler looked at the criminal, seeing the honesty in Red. He felt the anger drain out of him, then sighed, leaning back on the headrest a moment.

"But he was a better assassin, Donald." Added Red quietly, and Ressler glanced sharply at him, before leaning his head back again. He was tired, and in pain, and it felt so good to sit down. And deep down, he knew Red was right.

Red regarded him, seeing the tiredness and pain in the agent. "As for our next course of action, might I suggest that we split up. You and I head back up the mountain to see if we can find what's left of Jeremy Cole. Dembe and Lizzie can continue down the mountain, clearing the way to the river."

Ressler looked at him. It was what he had been going to suggest. Only in his mind it had been him and Liz going back up to find Jeremy. "Why send Liz to the river?"

"Donald, I'm going to assume here that it's because you're in a great deal of pain that you're not thinking straight. Lizzie may get a signal on her phone at the base of the mountain, and will have the correct access codes to call someone at the Post Office. Neither Dembe or I can do that. Right now it is in our best interests to keep an FBI agent in each team." He looked at Ressler's arm in the sling. "And let's not forget the obvious - she can drive the tractor, and you are unable to right now."

Ressler nodded. Once again Red was right. He really hated that about Red at times. Given a few more minutes he'd have come up with that on his own, he told himself. He looked up at a knocking on the window. Liz was out there, holding something up and smiling in the rain. She opened the door and handed Ressler a couple of aspirin in a foil pack. It would help take the edge off, at least.

"Found them in the glove box of the van. I have a few more in my backpack for later."

He looked back to Red, then up at Liz again. "Well, best give them to me, since I'm going up the mountain, and you're heading down."

###

Fifteen minutes later, they parted ways. Dembe and Liz turned from them and headed down the mountain. Dembe walked out in front, while Liz drove the tractor mower, her job to clear the trees after he had cut them into smaller sections. Ressler watched them leave, and then turned and looked back up the road.

"Come on Donald, let's get going before we lose the light." And he and Ressler started their trek back up the mountain.

Their progress was interrupted time and again as they searched under fallen trees for any sign of Jeremy Cole. If they found his body (as Ressler half expected) crushed under a tree they would simply turn around and catch up to Dembe and Liz. But tree after tree revealed no sign of the man. Wearily, they walked on, ever upwards, skirting around fallen trees here and there. The number of fallen pine trees was greatly reduced though. Pretty soon they were walking on the clear road that they had chain sawed and cleared just that morning.

Ressler's entire chest was one mass of pain. The continual walking uphill was becoming very, very difficult, and Red had been listening to the agents labored breathing for a while.

"How are you doing Donald?"

Ressler was startled when Red suddenly spoke, after walking silently for about thirty minutes. How am I doing? "I'm... fine." he replied.

Red chuckled at that. "We'll tell Lizzie that when we see her again. But for now, let's take a breather for a few minutes."

The road started to curve to the right as they approached the cliffs, and they heard the sound of running water now. Ressler was about to tell Red he was fine and could keep going when they both stopped in their tracks. An almost solid sheet of water ran over the cliff face, forming a waterfall that then ran over the road and down the embankment. Several piles of debris had piled up after they had cleared it this morning.

"Whoa..."

"Yes indeed Donald. THAT is a lot of water."

Approaching cautiously, they stood at the edge of the river of water pouring down the slope.

"I'm not too sure we can walk across that safely." said Ressler dubiously.

Red walked over to the cliffs and looked along their length. "No, but we can walk behind it. Look at this." The water falling over the cliff had created a clear tunnel behind it.

Ressler looked down the tunnel of water in front of the rock face, and then looked at Red. "I'm game if you are."

Red nodded, and with Red leading, they stepped into the tunnel. The gap was wide enough for them to walk through, in single file. The sound of the water filled their ears. Not deafening, but certainly loud. Ressler put his hand out into the falling water, and was surprised at the pressure on his fingers before he drew them back in.

It didn't take too long before they could see the end of the waterfall ahead of them. As they approached the opening, they stopped. Both had heard something over the sound of the water. Red turned back to Ressler as they listened.

"That's a vehicle!" said Ressler, over the roar of the water.

###

About two miles further down the mountain, Dembe and Liz were making good headway. They had a good system going now. Dembe would clear the way, cutting a tree into two or three large pieces. Then he hopped onto the tractor as Liz drove the tractor mower through, blade down, clearing the debris to the side. They would then drive slowly to the next blockade, and Dembe would hop down, chainsaw in hand. It was still pouring down, though thankfully the thunder and lightning had stayed away.

She watched him working his way through the tree with the chainsaw as she waited on the tractor, the canopy giving her some relief from the rain. Dembe came back to the tractor now, his latest tree cut in two, and she moved the tractor forward, clearing the pieces of trunk out of the way. Once clear of that tree, they had a clear run for about a quarter of a mile. It felt so good to actually be moving some distance. They came to the next tree and stopped. As the sound of the engine died down, they looked at each other, hearing a loud roar through the trees.

"That's the river! It must be huge to produce that much noise!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide.

They made their way cautiously now, aware of how close to the river they were. Or more to the point - how much closer the river had come up to them.

They could see fast moving water through the trees now, as Dembe hopped down to clear one last fallen tree that had been blocking their way. Liz looked through the trees worriedly. Once back on the tractor, they drove a little further, rounding a slight bend, the sound of the water very loud now. Liz suddenly stopped the tractor at the scene that lay before them.

"Oh my God..."

The river was monstrous, and far worse than they could have imagined.

The road in front of them ended abruptly and simply disappeared into a raging torrent of brown, churning water. Silently they climbed down from the tractor, took a few more steps and then stopped, afraid to get any closer. The bridge was nowhere in sight. Whether it had been swept away completely or was intact but submerged under all that churning water, they couldn't tell. The small, gentle river they had crossed when they began their ascent of the mountain had been replaced by a raging, boiling torrent. Downed trees lined the river, hanging in the water as the swirling water undermined their roots. Even as they watched another tree was dragged from the ground, and thrust into the maelstrom. The current took it very fast, and it disappeared from sight swiftly. Numerous trees were making their way down river, churning in eddies, whipping around as they continued their descent.

"Oh my God..." she whispered again.

There was no way they were getting off this mountain over the bridge.

Liz forced herself to stop looking at the torrent of water, turned, and pulled her phone out of her backpack. Turning it on, she waited to see if it could get a signal, being closer to town. No such luck. She typed out an email to Aram, just as she and Ressler had discussed before they split up. It was short and to the point.

_Aram, we are trapped on the mountain above Harrisonburg. All four of us are here - myself, Ressler, Red and Dembe. Objective not achieved. It was an elaborate trap. Jacob and Jessie Cole are dead. Jeremy Cole is at large. Look for info on a Russian - Liev Rostov. He was hired to kill us but is dead now. We need air support to get off this mountain. River is NOT passable due to severe flooding. _

_We have no phone signal. This will sit in the outbox until we hopefully get a signal. I am leaving my phone at the base of the mountain, so I cannot reply IF you get this. Aram, we need help!_

_Liz_

_PS - Red has an arm wound (shot) and Ressler has broken ribs and recovering from a dislocated shoulder. Need medical help also._

She put in her credentials at the bottom of the email. As an after thought, she snapped a photo of the raging river and attached a small version of it to the email. IF a signal came back, the email would send, and she needed it to be as small and quick to send as possible. She quickly added Ressler's email address as a cc, looked it over, and hit Send. It sat there, looking for a signal.

Dropping it in a plastic shopping bag from her backpack to keep it dry, she looked around for a place it would be safe. Dembe pointed up at one of the standing power poles. He maneuvered the tractor closer to the pole, and standing on it, he reached up and tied the plastic bag securely to a cross member. The phone was still on, the unsent email waiting for a signal. The battery life was 56% and would drain faster now that it was continually searching for a signal.

They turned to look at the river again, Dembe now beside her. Another tree rolled past them, swept down the fast current. They stood together, mesmerized by the sheer power of the turbulent water.

###

The sound of the truck engine grew louder as Red and Ressler listened from behind the waterfall.

"It has to be Jeremy Cole!" said Ressler, the truck now becoming visible as a blurred shape as they looked through the wall of water in front of them.

Ressler looked at the gun in Red's hands. "Don't you dare kill him!"

Red simply looked at him, his weapon raised, turning now as the sound of the truck engine was almost upon them.

"Now!" said Ressler.

They both stepped into the water, emerging through it, shaking their heads against the torrent. Ressler let out a cry as the water pressure hit his shoulder and ribs. The fast moving water coming of the cliffs churned around their ankles, dragging at their feet, making each step a very unnerving experience. They stepped carefully, neither of them wanting to add 'washed away over an embankment' to their list of mishaps.

Their weapons raised, they faced the pickup - and Jeremy Cole.

"Hold it right there!" Ressler yelled at him.

Jeremy saw the two men materialize out of nowhere through the water, and slammed on the brakes. He went to put the 4WD truck into reverse, but Red was beside him now, Jeremy's own gun pointed right at him.

"Hello Jeremy. How nice to see you again." said Red, as Jeremy reluctantly dropped the driver's window.

Ressler was in front of the truck, his weapon pointed right at Cole. He had a momentary thought that Cole could very easily run him down, and moved to the passenger side of the vehicle. Damn, he really wasn't thinking straight right now. Holding his gun with his right hand, he aimed it through the passenger side window, tapping the window until Jeremy lowered it too.

"Key's out of the ignition, Cole!" he told him. Jeremy looked at the road in front of him. "Don't even think about it!" warned Ressler.

Cole looked at Red, then Ressler both aiming their weapons into the vehicle at him. "All you two will do is shoot each other."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Jeremy." Red pressed the gun against Jeremy's head wound, his dressing still in place. He smiled a little as Jeremy winced at that. "Your head will take the impact of this bullet quite nicely. Agent Ressler won't even need to fire."

Jeremy reached for the truck keys, turned off the ignition and handed the keys to Red.

"Get out of the vehicle, Cole." Ressler told him, still on the passenger side. "And then get in the back seat."

Red 'encouraged' Jeremy to get out of the truck, his gun on him at all times, motioning for him to sit in the back. Ressler opened the back passenger door and climbed in beside Cole, as Red sat in the driver's seat.

"What have you been up to since you left our company?" asked Red pleasantly, "Besides dodging falling pine trees. Obviously successfully." he added.

Jeremy glared at him. "Burying my brothers."

Ressler looked evenly at Jeremy, and again felt that pang of sympathy that this guy had just lost both his brothers. Jeremy turned to look at him.

"Nice scarf, by the way." he added, looking at Ressler's sling.

Ressler ignored Jeremy's comment. "Where were you going? You said yourself the bridge had to be out with all this rain. So where were you going?" Ressler asked him.

Jeremy ignored him, and turned to look out the window. "Then let's keep heading down, and you can tell us when we get there." Said Red, and turned and started up the truck. Driving slowly through the runoff from the waterfall, he avoided the piles of debris. They headed down the road, keeping at a steady pace in the rain as Red moved around the cut trees. They came to Red's car and their crushed van, and cautiously made their way around the trees, driving in the underbrush on soggy ground. The wide truck tires handled the wet ground perfectly, barely slipping at all.

They had just gone past their vehicles and back on the cleared road again, when they heard a sound.

Squawk and static - from a radio.

"What the...!" said Ressler.

Red stopped the truck suddenly and quickly opened the glove box, revealing a CB radio. "Well Jeremy, you've been holding out on us all this time."

And right on cue, a voice came over the radio. _"Jer, you there? We're almost at the river with the boat! You better be there to meet us!"_

"A boat huh?" Red smiled hugely. "Well Donald, we may yet get off this mountain after all."

Red passed the microphone into the back seat. "Answer the man, Jeremy. Tell him you'll be there." He held the microphone in front of Jeremy, and pressed the button to talk.

Jeremy looked at him silently a moment, then looked at the two guns on him, and answered. "I'll be there." Red flipped off the mic before Jeremy could say anything more.

Ressler felt that knot in his stomach again. Unlike Reddington who had perked up at the mere mention of a boat, Ressler really didn't share the man's enthusiasm regarding them.

###

Dembe and Liz were sitting on the roadway, looking at the river as the sun was setting, casting an orange glow through the rain clouds.

"How far across do you think that is?" she asked him.

"How far is not really the problem. The trees and debris in the water are the problem." he said, and she smiled at his logic. "But I would say about 100 feet." He added.

"Too far...too fast and too far..." she said in awe of the massive amount of water churning below them. She was about to suggest they start to head back up, when they both saw vehicle headlights suddenly light up the trees to their left. Standing quickly to face the vehicle, they stepped to the side of the road. Liz shielded her eyes against the glare of the headlights, unable to see anything. The vehicle stopped now, still running, keeping the headlights burning.

"Lizzie! Dembe! It's just us." called out Red, opening the rear door of the vehicle, as someone else stepped out. Ressler got out now, and he pushed Jeremy in front of him as he walked toward where Dembe and Liz stood on the road.

"I see you found him!" Liz called out, recognizing their companion now. But then, who else could it have been but Jeremy Cole, she thought.

Ressler held his gun to Jeremy, but his eyes were on the raging river below them, sharply lit in the truck headlights. Good God, he thought. That thing is a death trap!

Liz stood beside him, and offered to watch Jeremy for him. He looked down at her in tired thanks, and she raised her weapon on the man. Ressler dropped his trembling right arm to his side and shakily holstered his weapon. He took a few steps toward the water, taking in the sight. He thought he'd seen it all after the trees fell. But this...this was terrifying. And yet, he couldn't keep his eyes off the sheer power of all that water.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Red almost purred beside him, mesmerized by the water.

"What?!" He looked at Red incredulously. "No! And there is NO way we're going out on that. NO WAY Red." Ressler yelled at him.

"Well, someone is. Look." Red pointed across the water.

On the other side of the river, a truck was reversing down the road, guiding a trailer with a large boat on it to the water's edge.

"Jeremy Cole's buddies..." said Ressler, unable to believe they were actually going to launch the boat into THAT.

"Oh my God. They're not! Surely they're not!" cried Liz, horrified, echoing Ressler's thoughts.

Ressler realized they were starkly visible against the headlights of Jeremy's truck to whoever was on the opposite bank. They ducked to one side, Liz dragging Jeremy with her as they took cover behind the pickup now. Dembe and Red made their way over to join them.

"Think they saw us?" she asked Ressler, and he was shaking his head. He didn't know. He didn't like this at all.

The boat trailer was being driven further into the water now, and the current was already moving it, trying to pull it downstream. It broke free of the trailer, and was held by a single, strong rope. Two men jumped out of the vehicle, dressed in wetsuits, and clambered on board the boat as it lurched dangerously to one side, straining against the rope that was holding it fast.

"They're crazy..." Liz whispered.

The men fired the engine of the boat and it roared to life now, twin jets of foam now visible behind it, righting the boat. Pulling the rope in, they reversed into the water. Picking up speed now, they stayed on course as they fought against the current. Turning, they headed the boat into the churning water, leaving the relative calm of the edge. The force of the water hit them full on, causing huge sprays of water to fall over the boat.

Liz couldn't watch. She turned, keeping her eyes on Jeremy Cole. He looked at her silently, and she saw fear in his eyes also. Those were his friends out there, and apparently it was scaring the hell out of him too.

Ressler watched, fascinated yet waiting for disaster to strike at any second. Amazingly, the boat was holding its own and about half way across now. But it was no match for the uprooted trees floating downstream. A tree slammed into the side of the boat, almost tipping it over. One of the men lurched dangerously close to the side, and almost fell in.

"No! no... come on..." Ressler breathed, willing the men on now. He didn't care anymore who they were or what their agenda was. No one should be out on that river.

"We need to give them more light." said Red, moving to the driver's door. They had a spotlight on the front of the boat, but it wasn't illuminating nearly enough of the dark water around them. Red moved the truck down the roadway now, stopping a safe distance back, and shone the headlights on high beam. He aimed them to one side, so they wouldn't outright blind the two boatmen.

"Smart..." said Ressler, as he and Liz walked a few steps down the road, drawn to the men's struggle on the water. Liz held her weapon on Jeremy, but it was almost unnecessary. His primary focus was on his friends in the river.

The boat was struck by more floating debris now, knocking it off course. Heading down river now, the men fought for control, and brought the heading back to where it needed to be, moving ever closer to the road and pseudo boat ramp on their side.

"Come on!" Ressler raised his voice to the men. They were almost to this side of the river.

"You can do it!" yelled Liz.

They were cheering them on now, Ressler realized.

"Look!" Dembe yelled over the roar of the water, and they turned, seeing what he had seen. A huge tree - straight on course for the boat.

"No!" cried Liz. "Oh God!" she took a step closer to the water, trying to warn the men. But they had seen it too.

Dembe ran now, sprinting to the truck that Red was still sitting in. He banged on the window, and motioned something to Red. As he moved to the front of the truck, Liz and Ressler lost sight of what he was doing. They ran toward the truck now, Jeremy with them. Ressler ignored the pain in his ribs, too focused on the battle going on in the river.

Dembe had unwound some of the cable from the hoist at the front of the pick up, and was standing right at the water's edge.

"What are you doing?!" Liz yelled at him, but he couldn't hear her over the roar of the water and boat engines.

The huge tree struck the boat.

They watched in horror as it went over on its side, suspended in the air for a moment before plunging down, the water quickly filling it. The two men had no chance. Just a few more feet and they would have made it.

Dembe plunged into the water, the cable hoist hooked to his belt. He fought the current, swimming swiftly and grabbed one of the men. He literally threw the man behind him into the shallower water, before going a couple more feet downstream. They lost sight of him as he went under, and saw the hoist cable strain.

"No! Dembe!" Liz ran to the rivers edge now, as her and Red reached down and helped the first man out to safety. He lay on the roadway, coughing up river water. But he was safe.

Red ran back to the truck and reversed slowly, pulling the cable hoist. Not knowing what was on the end of it. He kept reversing, as they all stood in front of the truck. Jeremy was leaning down to his friend, Liz and Ressler focused on the end of the submerged cable.

Red pulled, and slowly, a form rose out of the water. Red kept on pulling and steadily the form came ashore at their feet. As the water swirled around, they finally made out Dembe, hugging the other man to his chest, refusing to let him go.

"Dembe!" Ressler leaned down to them now, checking for pulses. He felt one in Dembe's neck, thankfully! He couldn't feel the other man's neck because of the wetsuit.

"Cole! Get over here!" Ressler called to the man, and he hurried over. Liz and Jeremy dragged his friend out of the water and up onto the road. They didn't know if he was alive or dead. Jeremy pulled the cap off the guy's wetsuit, as Liz felt for a pulse.

"He's alive!" she yelled, and grinned with relief up at Jeremy.

Ressler was joined by Red now, as they leaned down to Dembe. Red slapped his face gently, and the big man's eyes fluttered open. He coughed up some water then, and rolled onto his belly, coughing up more water. Red patted him on the back, crouching down and smiling at his companion.

"You had us worried there for a minute, my friend." Dembe nodded to him, and then broke into another coughing fit.

Ressler walked over to Jeremy and Liz. "How's he doing?" he yelled, raising his voice over the roar.

"I think he's okay. He's stirring now..." she told him.

He nodded and walked to the first guy. He was sitting up now, still coughing a little, and looking in awe at the river. Ressler crouched down to him.

"You okay?"

The man nodded his head, looking up at Ressler. "Thanks to that big dude, yeah..." he motioned to where Dembe was also sitting up now.

Ressler looked back to Dembe and nodded. "That big dude's name is Dembe. What's your name?"

"Phil... Phil Roberts." he panted, coughing again.

"Well Phil, this is your lucky day. You've just come out of the frying pan and into the fire. We're the FBI."

"Oh, hell no... seriously? Shit, if I'd known that, I'd have let the river take us." he groaned.

Ressler grinned at that, and slapped the man on the back. "I'm not here to arrest you. Yet. Like I said, this is your lucky day."

He surveyed the scene, and couldn't believe no one had died in this monster of a river. However, they were very close to the edge and water was lapping at their feet. They needed to get out of here before the water level rose even more.

It was only as he looked back at Red and Dembe again that he realized the rain had stopped – and that they were about to spend their second night on the mountain.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Fire Tower

Raymond Reddington was one of those men who could turn his hand to anything, given the opportunity. It had served him well in the Navy, and resulted in him being on a sure course for Admiral. Until he'd walked away from all that, of course. In the ensuing two decades, he had been in many tough situations. With a little ingenuity, a lot of patience, and a lot of resources (built up over years of being owed favors), he'd got by pretty well. He was accustomed to having a private jet with a satellite phone and spending time in mansions and villas all over the world. But he was also just as at home hiding out in a ghetto, if need be.

So he really wasn't all that fazed at their recent turn of events on this mountain for the past 36 hours, with another long night ahead of them. It seemed almost perfectly natural to Red to be sitting in a 'stolen' pickup truck fiddling with the cheap CB radio, while a raging river surged by right outside his windshield. He moved the dial to the next channel, listening, pressing the mic and trying again to raise someone who might be able to help them.

The driver door opened and Ressler stood there, looking in questioningly. Red looked at the agent in the light from the cab, noticing how pale and drawn he was starting to look. Paler than usual, even for Donald.

"Any luck?" asked Ressler, nodding to the radio.

"Well, if you're referring to the lovely proposition I received from a young lady who apparently has a thing for old men and shoes, and a rather confused gentleman who thought I was his long lost uncle Jim, then yes." Red smiled congenially.

Ressler just looked at Red evenly. "I mean have you got anyone who might be able to get word out for us?"

"I know what you mean Donald. I am moving up the dial, and will let you know if I get anything. In the meantime, how are our two half drowned gentlemen out there doing?" Both men looked toward the two men they'd just rescued from the churning river.

"They seem fine. I don't..." he hesitated, looking away, not sure he wanted to admit this to Red, but looked back at the man and plowed on anyway. "I don't actually know what to do with them, or Jeremy Cole anymore, for that matter. We're stuck here. All of us. Do we keep them all at gunpoint..." he looked at Red, actually wanting his input.

"Maybe a truce is in order, since we're all in this together." Suggested Red, and Ressler scowled at the thought. No way was he doing that.

Red was turning the dial to next channel, and a recording started playing, cutting in and out at intervals.

_This is Harrisonburg Emergency Servi... in need of assistance contact the Harrisonburg Police department on channel nine ... in the vicinity of downtown Harrisonbur... been closed. A curfew is in place. Only emergency perso... if you are in need of assistance contact the Harrisonburg..._

Ressler shook his head. For some reason he hadn't thought of the effect this storm had been having on the town. "Sounds bad down there..." he said, looking at the radio as Red turned it to channel nine. He handed the mic to Ressler.

"Perhaps the local police department might listen to the FBI more than someone's long lost uncle Jim." said Red, smiling.

Ressler took the mic and spoke into it, raising his voice above the roar of the river. "This is Special Agent Donald Ressler with the FBI, Washington DC Field Office. We are currently located at the base of the mountains north of the town of Harrisonburg. We are in need of assistance." He released the mic button, and they listened for a reply.

Nothing.

Ressler hadn't been sure what he'd expected, maybe some harassed officer on the front desk trying to deal with a hundred calls at once just like theirs. But nothing was disappointing.

He handed the mic back to Red. "Keep trying." He turned to leave, and then looked back. "Pretend you're me, if you think it would help."

"Oh, I don't have the hair for that, Donald." quipped Red. He looked at the agent, with his wet hair plastered to his forehead in a most un-Ressler like manner. "Though right now, nor do you." he added, smiling.

He rolled his eyes at Red, before leaving and walking back toward Liz.

###

Liz was helping their second half drowned guy up to his feet. Dembe was up now, and seemed none the worse for his close call with drowning in the river that churned by them. She steadied the guy, and asked him his name.

"Eric..." he coughed again, leaning against Liz. He was young, maybe 25, and looked almost like a little kid as scared as he was at his near death in the river. He looked appreciatively over at Dembe, who had reached out his arm to steady the young man, before looking back at Liz. "Eric Townsend. But everyone calls me ET." He said over the roar of the river, as Liz started leading him away from the waters edge.

Ressler approached them and after making sure the guy was doing okay, he drew Liz aside. She looked into his eyes, seeing the pain in them. He really isn't doing so good, she thought to herself.

"You okay?"

He nodded. "Just tired." he told her, before leading her up the roadway a little, away from the others. "So, obviously we're not getting out of here tonight, so our best option is heading back up to the cabin..."

Liz completed the sentence for him. "And you're not sure what we do with these two guys. Are they our prisoners, or our... guests."

He looked at her standing in the glow of the headlights, soaking wet like they all were, the river behind her. "Exactly."

"One's just a kid...I'm not sure he's much threat to us. And Phil, well, he and Jeremy have been talking over there, but right now, I feel that Jeremy Cole is the main threat."

"And that could be our downfall, to be lulled into a false sense of security with them. And no, I don't trust Jeremy at all." Agreed Ressler, looking at Jeremy over Liz's shoulder now.

"So we need to keep Jeremy under wraps, but maybe let Eric and Phil be for now until we know otherwise?" she said to him, watching his eyes narrow as he looked at Jeremy.

He looked down at her again. "Red suggested a truce... " He paused momentarily, closing his eyes as a wave of dizziness passed over him. She looked worriedly at him. He opened his eyes again, the dizzy moment passing. "But I don't know about that... I don't see Jeremy adhering to a truce..."

"Dembe still has the rifle in the tractor mower. Let's have him get it and he can take over guarding Jeremy for the night. He seems to like that job." she said, and looked over at the black man, who was still assisting Eric.

"Okay, go talk to him." He asked her, again closing his eyes as another wave of dizziness passed over him.

"Ress? You okay?" She looked up at him worriedly, putting her hand on his right arm now.

He opened his eyes quickly. "Yeah." he told her, not wanting her to fuss. Not when they had other things on their mind right now.

"You're in a lot of pain...have you still got the aspirin?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'll take some, thanks." He didn't tell her they made him feel nauseous taking them on an empty stomach and did very little to stop the pain.

She squeezed his right arm, looked worriedly at him, then headed over to talk to Dembe. Ressler stood there, his dizzy spell passing now. He thought back in his mind to the last time he'd slept – ignoring the exhausted, drug induced 40 minutes he'd got while holding Liz at the bottom of the ridge. It was Tuesday night, maybe… or was it Monday? And it's Saturday night now, he told himself. He really needed some sleep.

Dembe accepted his guard duties readily, and as he and Ressler approached Jeremy, the man held his hands out in mock surrender.

"Wondered how long it would take you to put me under armed guard again." The cuffs had been on his right wrist the entire time, since he'd run from their surveillance van and all Ressler had to do was recuff his left wrist, keeping Jeremy's hands in front of him.

"Oh, come on FBI, is that really necessary?" exclaimed Phil, looking from Jeremy to Ressler.

"Yes, it is." He told the man, and looked back to Jeremy. "Isn't that right Cole?"

Jeremy Cole looked calmly at him, and nodded. "It's okay Phil. The man's just doing his job."

Ressler didn't trust Jeremy Cole when he was being calm. He nodded to Dembe, who kept the rifle on Jeremy, and then asked Phil to come with him. Phil looked from Jeremy to Dembe, shook his head and reluctantly followed Ressler. They walked over to Liz and Eric, the young man having regained some of his composure now.

"You okay, ET?" asked Phil, and Eric nodded.

Ressler looked at Eric, or ET as he liked to be called, and found himself wishing ET really could call home and get them all off this damned mountain.

###

They left the river, making their way back up the mountain road again. Dembe and Jeremy sat outside in the cab, Dembe keeping the rifle on their prisoner again. Red drove the pickup with Ressler in the passenger seat. Ressler was really starting to hate sitting in the passenger seat. It invariably meant he was incapacitated in some way. Though I should be used to that by now, he thought ruefully. Eric and Phil sat in the back seat of the pickup, while Liz led the way driving the tractor mower again. She had insisted that was the best place for her, and looking at the seating arrangements, Ressler had to agree.

With the lights from the tractor mower lighting their way and maneuvering around the cut trees on the road, they steadily made their way up the mountain again. The rain was still holding off, and Ressler looked out the window, leaning on the headrest as they drove up. A few stars were actually shining through the breaks in the clouds. The treetops that he could see were still, thankfully, with not a breeze in sight. He closed his eyes, and could almost have fallen asleep right there, before he quickly opened them again.

They passed the crushed surveillance van and Red's car, and Ressler once again refused to look at Liev's body. Liz led the way around them and gradually made their way to the cliffs. The waterfall had stopped flowing, and she dropped the blade and moved some of the fresh debris from the road as they followed. Turning back to the left above the cliffs, they at last came to the driveway to the cabin. Standing water was on the sides of the road, and Liz pushed on through it, the tractor lurching to one side as she made her way through the ditch. She continued down the driveway around the piles of trees they had cut aside, coming to a stop in front of the large outbuilding.

Red followed her in the pick up, and made his way across the ditch at the head of the driveway. Ressler stifled a cry of pain as the truck lurched across the ditch. Fifteen minutes after they had left the roaring river below them they pulled up in front of the cabin, parking in two inches of water on the ground.

"Well gentlemen, here we are." Red said pleasantly, looking in the back to Phil and Eric. They looked at the dark cabin, and Phil nodded to Eric that it was okay, and they got out of the truck. Liz was walking over to them, through areas of standing water that was still ankle deep. Dembe and Jeremy jumped down from the cab, splashing in the water, as Ressler stayed in the truck

"Well Jeremy, I'm afraid we're going to have to impose on you and invade your home again for the night." said Red, looking at the cuffed man.

"You didn't ask the first time."

Red chuckled and walked up the steps to the deck. Dembe pushed Jeremy in front of him, as Eric and Phil fell in behind them.

Liz opened the passenger door and stood by Ressler now. "You going in?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No, we need to raise someone on this radio. We don't know if your phone will ever send the message to Aram." She went around to the driver's seat and sat with him, as he began going through the channels again. At each one, he gave his little speech, and was either greeted with nothing, or someone yelling "Hello? Hello?" They came across a guy who spoke Spanish, and when neither side could understand the other, Ressler turned the dial again in frustration.

He finally raised a guy who thought he was in a trucker movie and spoke all the jargon, greeting them with a 'hey there we got a big 10-33 here, so what's your 20?" Ressler rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for Smokey and the Bandit crap right now. "This is Special Agent Donald Ressler of the FBI Washington DC Field Office. We are located... our 20... is north of Harrisonburg at the top of the mountain, just under the fire tower. We need to speak to someone in authority who can get us air support off this mountain."

"Well keep your ears on there Federali, let me see if I can get hold of them bears here." said the trucker voice.

Ressler looked at Liz tiredly, then spoke into the mic again. "We need to speak to the Emergency Management team, or the police, or someone who can get us a chopper up here." he repeated impatiently.

"That's what I'm doing Fed, hold on."

Ressler held on. He suddenly felt exhausted, closing his eyes again. Liz looked at him worriedly, then the voice came back on the radio.

"Turn your dial to 19.3 and talk to them there. That's the local cop shop."

"Thank you for your assistance." Ressler told the trucker.

"That's a big 10-4 there Federali! Keep your ears on, and hope you get some bears in the air!"

Liz looked at him. "He means a police helico..."

"I know what he means." He cut her off impatiently and with effort, leaned forward and turned the dial to 19.3. He sighed, pressed the mic and said his little speech again. This time he finally got someone in authority.

"This is Deputy Sheriff Tommy Johnson, who am I addressing? You said you're a Fed?"

Ressler replied again, explaining where they were, and how they were trapped with a prisoner, and seven of them in total. He kept his eyes closed, as another wave of dizziness rolled over him. Tommy Johnson was asking him more, but Ressler couldn't answer just yet.

He felt Liz take the mic from his hand. "This is Special Agent Elizabeth Keen, and yes, there are seven of us and we need air support. She looked at Ressler with concern while she spoke into the mic. He was more than just tired.

"Ma'am, we can't get a chopper up there tonight. We can try and get one up at first light though, If you're at the Cole cabin, I know where you're at. We can land at the fire tower above their place."

Liz clicked the mic again. "Thank you Sheriff." She replied, never taking her eyes of Ressler. "We also need a medic up here. One of our party is injured."

"Got it ma'am, we'll have a medic on board. We'll get a chopper up there first light. I've seen the river and there is no other way off the mountain right now."

He signed off and Liz hung the mic back on the CB radio. "Ressler. You're not okay, so don't tell me that you are. Tell me what's wrong."

He turned his head to the side to face her. "I'm just tired, Liz."

She looked dubiously at him, and nodded reluctantly. Getting out of the drivers side, she went around the truck and helped him out of the passenger side, noticing how much he leaned his weight on her as he stepped down onto the wet ground. They walked up the steps to the deck, and Ressler stopped and looked around. Memories of seeing lightning flashing and trees exploding came to him. Not to mention being shot at from a sniper while standing right here. He shivered suddenly, wincing at the pain that brought, before turning and walking through the front door. She followed him, and they entered the dimly lit living room, seeing the dance of candle light coming from the kitchen.

The first thing Ressler noticed was that the body of Jacob Cole was gone from the floor. He was rather relieved at that. He then noticed the shot out window had been boarded up. Jeremy Cole had been busy during his 'break' from them.

"Red!" Liz called out, and he appeared momentarily in the kitchen door holding a candle in a jar. He approached them, and Liz spoke softly to him, not wanting the others to hear just yet. "They're sending a police helicopter in the morning for us. We finally got hold of someone in town. We'll need to be up at the fire tower and they'll land there."

Red nodded, looked very relieved at that. "Dembe is making some sandwiches for us. Not much in the kitchen, but the man is resourceful."

"How are our guests?" asked Liz, looking toward the kitchen, where she could hear the men talking.

"No trouble so far. They seem a little perplexed at this turn of events. Jeremy is as quiet as ever." Red told her, turning his attention to Ressler.

"You don't look well Donald. Seriously." He narrowed his eyes, looking at the agents pallor.

Ressler looked at him silently. He was fine.

"Far be it for me to tell a grown man what to do Donald, but it's high time you got out of that vest so we can look at your ribs, my friend."

Ressler looked impatiently at Red, ignoring the concerned look the criminal was giving him. "No. I just need to grab a couple of hours sleep, and I'll be fine."

"There's something not right though, we really should check you..." said Liz.

He looked at them both, irritated and gritting his teeth now. "There is nothing you can do for broken ribs that I'm not already doing. I said NO." he hissed, and turned on his heel and headed toward the dark hallway to the guestroom. He desperately needed to lay down before he fell down from exhaustion but he didn't want them to see that.

He stopped, looked down a moment, and then turned back to Liz and Red, "I'm sorry. I'm just exhausted and being a complete dick about it. Just...just let me get some sleep, okay?" He managed a rueful smile, and turned from them now, entering the barely lit guest room. Sitting on the bed he kicked his boots off, then gasped as he lay down on the covers as a surge of pain shot through his entire torso and shoulder. He reached for the blanket, but Liz had followed him and was already on it. She covered him, and for a moment he felt like a little kid with his mom tucking him in. He didn't like feeling that helpless. Unable to keep his eyes open, he felt himself falling down into a dark abyss as sleep hurriedly sought to overtake him now.

He spoke to her as if from a great distance. "... I'll be fine. Just... need some... sl..."

He was asleep before he even finished the sentence.

She sat down in the recliner, watching him sleep, unable to shake the feeling that something was very wrong with him.

###

Ressler slept more than a couple of hours. At 4:30am Liz was asleep in the recliner beside the bed when she was suddenly woken up by a cry. She shot awake, realized it was from Ressler and went to him. He was sitting up on the bed panting hard, gripping his torso in pain at the sudden movement.

"Ressler! What's wrong?!"

He shook his head at her, panting, trying to get himself under control while the room spun around him. He had been dreaming of Audrey. It was one of those nice dreams. One of those beautiful safe dreams. Until Red had come along with a knife and slit her throat, leaving him trying to hold her throat together with her warm blood pouring all over him. He'd been screaming at her, begging her not to die. He'd woken up and bolted upright on the bed. He wasn't sure where he was, and then suddenly Liz was there, and it all came rushing back. They were at the Cole cabin.

She sat down beside him, and gently rubbed the back of his neck, stroking his damp hair as he shook breathlessly beside her. It had to have been a nightmare. She recognized the look now - she'd woken up that way a few times herself of late. "It's okay... it was just a dream..." she told him softly, and he nodded. He knew it was just a dream. Yet it wasn't only a dream. It was a memory too.

"I'm right here... it's okay..." she told him, hearing his breathing start to steady now. She understood why he didn't like to sleep.

His head was down as he spoke, "I'm sorry." he said, and she leaned close to him and shook her head, talking to him gently. "Don't be. You're not the only one, Ress. I have them too at times."

He looked sideways at her, and nodded. "It's hard... I miss her Liz. And I keep seeing her... dying... over and over..." he said softly, his breath hitching.

She leaned into him. "I know... I shot my 'husband' remember... I know..." And she really did know what it was like, to relive that over and over.

He looked at her again, and managed a painful chuckle then. "We make a right pair. Let's not let psych talk to us, okay? They'd bench us immediately."

She smiled and patted his back gently, mindful of his ribs. "Why don't we go see what Red and Dembe are up to?"

He nodded, then swayed alarmingly as a dizzy spell hit him as he stood up. She grabbed his right arm before he fell, looking up at him as he stood now. "You are not okay."

He looked down at her, his breath catching. "I know, Liz. But there will be a medic here soon, and we'll be out of here and I can get checked out then."

###

Ressler and Liz entered the living room, where Phil and ET had both taken up chairs and were sleeping soundly. Eric was sprawled out on the couch, drooling, noticed Liz, and Phil was snoring on a recliner. They noticed they had changed out of their wetsuits during the night, presumably wearing some of the Cole brother's clothing now. They made their way quietly through to the kitchen. Red had fallen asleep at the table, and jerked his head up as they entered. The man could probably wake up at a sparrow fart 200 yards away, thought Liz. Dembe was in his assigned position of guard, although the one he was guarding was fast asleep in the chair. It was still dark, but the sun would be rising very soon. All in all, it had been a quiet, uneventful night. Something all of them had needed.

"So," said Red, waking up properly now, "good morning Lizzie, Donald, I take it you got plenty of rest?" He said, looking at them, noting that Ressler was still very pale, now with dark rings under his eyes. He saw the glance between them, but didn't pursue it.

"Yes, and we'll need to head up to the fire tower soon and wait for this helicopter that we assume is going to arrive." replied Liz, looking out the window and seeing the first light appearing in the sky.

Liz and Ressler sat at the kitchen table now, as Jeremy woke up on hearing them talk. "And the sooner we get out of here the better." She added, unable to help stealing a concerned glance at Ressler.

"Then let's get this party going, shall we? Dembe, wake up the troops." And with that, Red got up and leaned close to Ressler's ear. "And Donald, if you don't let that medic check you out, I'll hold you at gunpoint myself until you do."

He smiled cheerfully at Ressler now, and resisted slapping him on the back.

Ressler looked up at him silently, knowing the man would do it too.

###

Twenty minutes later, they were all in the pick up truck. Red was driving again, something that Ressler still found unusual, but was getting used to. Liz was in the passenger seat, and Ressler, Eric and Phil were crammed in the back seat, Ressler in the middle. Dembe and Jeremy were once again relegated to sitting outside in the cab. They pulled out from in front of the cabin, and headed slowly down the driveway. The sun hadn't yet risen over the mountain, but the entire area was washed in a pink glow.

They reached the end of the drive way, and once again crawled carefully over the ditch to reach the road. Ressler grimaced as the truck lurched, then righted itself as they turned and headed up the mountain. They came to the fire access road, and both Liz and Ressler were struck with just how much had happened since they had pulled into this very road almost 48 hours earlier. The ditch across the road was huge, and again, Red maneuvered the pickup over it, the vehicle tipping alarmingly to one side. He righted it and climbed up onto the fire access road.

Water still lined the ditches on either side of the road, and rivers of water still ran down the road in places. The pickup truck handled it all in it's stride, even as the incline increased as they drove by where they had originally parked their van. There were very few trees at this elevation, which made going much easier, with no trees across the road. The road turned a little and now they could see the top of the fire lookout tower. They climbed steadily, and a few minutes later Red pulled the pickup into the small parking area near the tower.

The tower was larger than Liz had imagined. She had thought of one of those tall, spindly things that looked like they'd topple in the slightest breeze. This tower was constructed of gray stone, about 20 foot square, and approximately 50 feet tall. It was a very sturdy looking building, with a metal ladder going up two sides to reach the large lookout tower at the top, surrounded by windows on all sides to give an unobstructed view. A door led to the lower part of the tower, under the stairs.

There was a lot of cleared land around the tower, with plenty of area for a chopper to land. They sat in the vehicle a moment, and then Red opened the door and hopped out, taking in the view from the top. Eric and Phil opened the doors and exited, leaving Ressler sitting in the back seat, and Liz in the passenger seat.

"You want to just wait in here?" she asked him.

He shook his head. He was feeling decidedly nauseous and if he was going to throw up, he'd rather do it outside than in the vehicle. With an effort, he moved to the door and slowly climbed out. Liz stood by him, hearing how breathless he sounded. Sweat was beading on his forehead.

He glanced at her, seeing her looking at him worriedly. "I know Liz. The medic will be here soon."

Eric and Phil were near them, looking out at the view. Dembe and Jeremy were over by the tower, leaning against it. Red was off to one side, looking toward the town, willing a helicopter to appear. Two days up here was more than enough.

"There it is!" called out Eric, and pointed. Sure enough, a speck was rising out of the morning sky, getting bigger and bigger. It was a helicopter and it was definitely heading in their direction.

Liz smiled with relief, and went over toward Phil to get a better view of it approaching, hoping against hope it was their chopper and that it would keep heading this way. Eric turned to look at her, as his smile turned somber. "I'm sorry." he said, taking her by surprise.

"For what?" she asked him.

"For this." said Phil from behind her, and she suddenly felt something on the back of her head.

He was holding a gun to her head.

Her eyes widened and she looked at Eric. He was faster though, and had already reached for her firearm and taken it from her holster, now pointing it at her.

Ressler moved toward them instinctively. "No!" and reached for his own weapon.

It was not in his holster.

"This what you're looking for FBI?" said Phil, now holding up Ressler's gun. Ressler took another step toward him, realizing Phil had to have taken it from him while they were in the pickup, likely as they lurched across the driveways. He gritted his teeth at his own stupidity, heading for Liz. The dizziness was threatening again.

"Don't come any closer! Or I will put a bullet in her head!" said Phil.

Ressler stopped, his breath heaving in his chest, the ground starting to spin violently. Not now! Dammit! He yelled at himself. He needed his wits about him.

Red whipped around, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at Phil.

"I said don't!" he told Red, taking the gun off safety, holding it on Liz as he grabbed her hair now. Her eyes looked to Red, and he had no choice. He lowered the weapon, cursing inwardly. He glanced quickly down the mountain. The helicopter was getting closer. They could hear it's rotors now in the morning air.

"Let Jeremy Cole go, or I will shoot her!" he yelled over to Dembe, who had now turned and was shoving Jeremy Cole in front of him.

Eric was caught between a rock and a hard place. He really didn't want to have to shoot anyone, but held the gun on Liz. Ressler knew he was the weak link in this. But even if he overpowered him, there was still Phil with two weapons. He looked at Liz, and her eyes pleaded with him. Dammit! He needed to do something!

"Drop the rifle! Let Jeremy go NOW!" yelled Phil toward Dembe. "Or I swear, she's dead!"

Red looked to Dembe, and motioned with his hand to lower the rifle. No matter who Jeremy Cole was or what contacts he had, he was not going to risk Lizzie's life.

"Put the rifle on the ground." Jeremy told Dembe, his eyes boring into the black mans. Dembe refused to give up the rifle to Cole. He threw the rifle over the edge of the embankment, watching it fall into the trees and grass, and bounce down the mountainside.

"That works just as well." Jeremy told Dembe over the sound of the helicopter, and headed toward Phil.

They could see the helicopter approaching now, getting much louder.

Eric was in front of Ressler now, holding him at gunpoint. "I need those cuff keys. I'm sorry."

Ressler tried to reason with the kid. "You really don't want to do this. You'll go to jail for a very long time." he told the kid breathlessly, willing the ground to stay still and his eyes to focus.

Eric wasn't listening though. "The keys! Now!"

Ressler fished the keys out of his pocket, and threw them at Eric's feet. As he bent down to get them, Ressler lunged, kicking the gun from his hands, feeling a wave of pain and dizziness overtake him at the sudden movement as he hit the ground. They both scrambled for the gun, Ressler unable to make out where it was as the ground spun crazily around him. His chest was screaming in pain, his shoulder on fire. He shook his head, trying to see straight. Eric grabbed the gun and swung around, pointing it in Ressler's face as he lay on the ground.

"I'm sorry. They told me to..." He pulled back the hammer, ready to fire.

A shot rang out, he heard Liz scream, and Ressler felt an awful dejavu sweep over him. But once again, someone else had fired the shot. As his vision swam, he made out Red walking over, having shot Eric in the arm. The kid was writhing on the ground as Red approached.

Ressler reached out to retrieve the gun, the ground spinning around him. He could barely make it out, but his fingers finally closed around the cold metal. He dragged it toward him, flipping the safety back on as he did so. He pulled it under him, and closed his eyes. Eric was yelling out in pain, but the sound was receding in Ressler's ears. Blackness threatened. His stomach was dropping out from under him. His breath ragged, blackness surrounded him now. Caught in its clutches, he couldn't fight it. The last thing he heard was Liz screaming his name, and the sound of a helicopter above him before he lost consciousness.

Phil held the gun on Liz, dropping it down out of sight from the police in the helicopter. Jeremy quickly retrieved the cuff keys from the ground near Eric and undid the cuffs, dropping them beside the unconscious Ressler. He looked toward Red, warning him not to try anything, as Phil handed him Ressler's gun.

Liz was looking at Ressler on the ground. She couldn't see if he was breathing over the downdraft from the helicopter above them. The sound was deafening, as it circled, the wind whipping around them, making it difficult to stand. It slowly dropped to the ground, coming to a halt in the clearing near the tower. The power to the blades was shut off, and they slowed.

"We need a medic over here!" yelled Jeremy Cole and Red had a sickening feeling. What the hell was he up to? He was looking at Ressler on the ground, and shared Liz's concern.

"Move." Liz heard Phil say from behind her, as he shoved the gun into the small of her back. She resisted, and he pushed harder. "I will kill you. Now move." She moved forward, and as they passed Ressler she tried to drop down to him.

"Oh no you don't. Or I'll finish what Eric started and your partner here will be mincemeat all over the ground." Jeremy told her.

Liz straightened, and Phil kept pushing her toward the chopper. She caught Red's eyes as Red stood near Dembe, again motioning to the man not to make a move. Not with a gun on Lizzie.

A man jumped from the chopper, carrying a large case. The medic had arrived.

"Over here!" Jeremy Cole motioned toward Ressler and Eric on the ground. The medic ran, hunched down under the blades of the chopper.

"Oh God...don't you dare Jeremy." said Red under his breath.

Phil approached the chopper now, and hunched down, pulling Liz with him as they headed to the open door. He reached up, and climbed in, pulling her in behind him.

"You see Jeremy over there? He's crazy. He will shoot your partner on the ground if you try anything." Phil snarled in her ear.

Liz did as she was told. For now, that was all she could do.

The medic approached Ressler and dropped to his knees, opening up his bag. He pulled his flight helmet off and lay it beside him, before reaching down and opening one of Ressler's eyes. He reached into his pocket for his little flashlight, bending down to the unconscious agent. Eric squirmed beside him.

"I'm worse off than him!" he whined, and the medic looked at him. "I'll get to you too, don't worry."

Phil was in the chopper and approached the pilot. He leaned over, giving the guy a cheesy grin and a big thumbs up. The pilot turned, and smiled, nodding to the guy. In that instant, Phil raised the gun and fired it straight into the man's heart. He never had a chance. He was dead in seconds. His heart exploding as the bullet ripped it apart.

On the ground, the medic looked up in horror at the gunshot, only to see Jeremy Cole leaning down to him. He fired point blank into the medic's head, the man falling dead to the ground beside Ressler and Eric.

"What the fu..?!" Eric screamed at Jeremy.

"No! NO!" screamed Liz, and Phil turned to her. "I'm just getting warmed up darlin'. Don't push it."

Jeremy Cole ran, sprinting past Red and Dembe. "Don't you dare! Phil will kill her!" and ran to the chopper, clambering aboard. He reached around to the dead pilot, and opened the small door near him. Pushing the body out, Jeremy sat in the pilot's seat now. He looked toward Red and Dembe, saluted them, and then started up the chopper.

As the rotors increased in speed, Eric got up from the ground, hauling himself to his feet.

"Don't leave me! Don't you dare leave me!" He lumbered toward the chopper, seeing it lift off the ground now, the rotors at full speed, deafening them all again.

"NO! Don't leave me behind!" Eric screamed, blood pouring down his right arm.

Liz looked down in horror, seeing Ressler lying on the ground, the dead medic, Eric trying to catch up to the chopper and Red and Dembe. standing together. She held her hands on the window, looking down as they rose into the sky, sobbing against the window now.

Red dropped to the ground on his knees, and seeing that was the hardest thing of all. She had never seen Red look so defeated.


	9. Chapter 9 - Doctor Red

They watched the helicopter rise into the overcast sky, the wind from the rotors whipping at their clothing and blowing storm debris around them. Everything had gone to hell in a hand basket in mere minutes. Red could see Liz in the window looking down at them, and he'd have given anything to trade places with her. The chopper hovered over them a moment more before it turned, and Red lost sight of her.

Eric screamed at the helicopter, begging them to come back for him. He staggered around as his arm bled all over him, holding his other hand up to the sky as if trying to grab the helicopter.

"Come baaaack! Pleeeaasse!"

As the chopper left the mountain, he took his eyes off it and looked helplessly at Red and Dembe. Letting out a cry of utter anguish, as tears streamed down his face, he turned and ran. He headed unsteadily toward the pickup, crying loudly as he went.

Red watched him go, actually feeling sorry for the young man. Physically the kid was early to mid 20s. Mentally, well, he wasn't too sure, but right now he was behaving like a 6 year old throwing a tantrum. Red rose to his feet, glancing at Ressler on the ground nearby as he did so. He had known something was seriously wrong with the agent, and now the medic that was here to help him lay dead beside him. He would check on Ressler in a minute.

"Raymond. We need to help Agent Ressler." Dembe said beside him.

Red ignored Dembe for the moment, his attention back on the helicopter, needing to see what direction it went in. When, or if, they followed it they'd have some bearing to work on. It flew in the opposite direction it had come from, heading over the mountains and across the border between Virginia and West Virginia. He stepped away from Dembe now, getting a better view, concentrating on the chopper as it faded to a small speck now, heading in a straight line across the border. It finally disappeared from view, and he stared at the position he'd last seen it, imprinting it in his mind.

"Raymond."

"Yes Dembe, I know."

He strode toward Ressler now, still hearing Eric sobbing and yelling loudly from the pickup, and punching something by the sounds of it. He approached the unconscious agent, avoiding the dead medic on the ground. Dembe followed and dutifully dragged the dead man a few feet out of the way.

Red kneeled on the wet ground beside the downed agent, his hand to Ressler's forehead. "Help me roll him over." he asked Dembe.

Between them, they gently rolled Ressler onto his back. He was still out cold and showed no reaction. Red pocketed Liz's gun that Ressler was miraculously still holding onto. He smiled a little at that. Even as he was passing out, obviously feeling like hell, Ressler had still secured a wayward weapon. Red leaned down to hear his breathing. It was very labored, and his face was pale, cold and sweaty to the touch. Unfortunately, he'd seen Donald looking like that before.

"What is wrong with him?" Dembe asked his boss.

"He's bleeding." said Red.

Dembe quickly checked for wounds, looking up and down Ressler. "I don't see any blood, Raymond."

"Internally. He's got broken ribs and I daresay they punctured something. He's been slowly bleeding out since then, and now he's going into shock from blood loss."

He looked to the pickup, needing to get in touch with the Sheriff and explain what had happened. And Ressler needed a hospital.

"Stay with him. See if you can help him come round." Red got to his feet, and turned toward the pickup. He stopped and then looked back to Dembe. "Actually, let him be. He can come to when he's ready. Let's give the man a few more minutes without searing pain."

He strode over to the pickup. Eric was still inside, but was quieter now. As Red approached, the young man climbed out of the driver's seat.

"There's no keys. I couldn't go after them." he said sullenly, sniffing back tears.

Red shook his head. The kid was crazy if he thought he could follow the chopper that way. He tried to explain that, but Eric was stomping away. Red ignored him now, and climbed into the passenger seat, not wanting to sit in the blood on the driver's side that Eric had left there - and stopped dead.

Eric had trashed the console of the truck completely. The ignition switch had been bashed in on the steering column. The glass in the displays was cracked. Dials from the radio lay on the floor.

"Eric. I swear..."

Red's worst fears were confirmed when he looked at the CB. The mic was torn off, and nowhere in sight. The radio had been pulled from its mounting in the glove box and been hit with a rock that he now spied on the floor. In his frustration and despair at Jeremy and Phil leaving him, Eric had destroyed Jeremy's truck.

Red gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and willed himself to breathe. That idiot kid had probably just signed Donald's death warrant. And how would they find Lizzie. They had no way to contact anyone now to get more help up here. With a last look at the demolished console and radio, he got out of the truck, walking deliberately toward Eric.

Eric took one look at the fury in Red's eyes, and fled down the road.

###

Liz kneeled on the floor of the chopper, leaning on the window as she looked out. As the chopper turned into it's new course, she lost sight of the fire tower as they turned away from it. "No... No..." she whispered. Moving to the seat now, she fell into it in disbelief. She folded her arms, checked the time on her watch and exhaled heavily, looking across at Phil.

"Why did you do that?!" she yelled at him over the roar of the helicopter. "Why?!"

"Because my boss told me to." He shouted, nodding toward Jeremy Cole in the pilot seat.

"That's no reason!" she yelled at him.

"Hey, it's all the reason I need, darlin'. Jer and I go way back."

"But we saved your life at the river!" she cried. "Isn't that worth anything to you?!" She shook her head, looking at his calm demeanor as he gazed back at her.

He got up and moved to the seat beside her, so he didn't have to yell as much. "Yes, you did, and I thank you for that. But that man in there," he pointed to Jeremy, "saved my life long before you guys did." he said, reaching up to hold a strap above his head as the helicopter hit some turbulence.

She looked at him beside her, seeing a little of the Phil they'd first seen, instead of the homicidal killer he'd just become right in front of her. "You killed two people in cold blood! They didn't deserve that!" she told him, furious at them for what they had done.

Phil looked at her silently, which made her angrier at him. And she knew why - it was what Ressler did to her. She could be furious at him, and he'd simply look silently back at her. She both liked and hated that about her partner. At the thought of Ressler she suddenly looked away, glancing out the window again at the almost featureless mountains and trees below. She didn't know what had happened to him. She spun around to Phil again, her mind filled with the image of Ressler lying unconscious on the ground.

"And my partner needed that medic! You could clearly see that!"

He ignored her comment about her partner. Inwardly, he'd actually felt bad about that. It was obvious the FBI agent was sick and needed medical help. He wanted this conversation done. "Yeah, we killed two people, and if you don't want me to make it three people, I suggest you shut up." he told her, getting up and moving to the seat on the other side of the chopper again.

Liz opened her mouth to say more, and then gave up, sitting back heavily in the seat. Her conversation wasn't in vain though. She had established something. Phil might kill a man for his boss, but he had a conscience about some things. His refusal to comment on Ressler not getting the medic showed that. She sighed, looking around at the empty seats. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were ALL supposed to be in here, and landing in Harrisonburg about now.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" she asked, knowing Phil wouldn't tell her, but it was worth a try. And she was right, he just stared at her, with his "Ressler silence" and she couldn't bear looking at that a second longer as he reminded her of her downed partner.

She turned and looked out the window again. All she could see below them were mountains and trees, and the occasional overflowing waterway. They were flying in a straight line which hadn't wavered since they had left the fire tower. Wherever Jeremy Cole was taking them, he knew the route.

She kept watching, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything that might help later. The mountains gave way to smaller hills now, and a few homes and rural properties appeared. She kept watching, and saw a barn. The name "Hiller" was painted on the roof. She filed that away, and kept looking. They were turning now, and a small town came into view in the distance. The only distinguishing feature was a large church steeple with a weather vane on the spire. An airport came into view, in the shape of an X she noticed. They kept turning, and now she noticed they were descending, crossing over a double lane highway. Flood water was standing in the ditches and in low lying fields. They were still in a rural area, as the chopper headed away from the highway, still descending.

"What are you going to do with me?" she called out to Phil, almost afraid of the answer.

"Oh, that's up to the boss here, darlin'." He'd apparently regained some of his homicidal maniac terminology again, she noticed with concern.

Liz looked toward the back of Jeremy's helmeted head as he flew the chopper. After all they'd done to Jeremy, keeping him handcuffed under armed guard - not to mention that she'd shot his brother, of course - her fate was now in his hands.

The helicopter came in to land at a rural farmhouse, touching down behind it in a large field. She checked her watch, noting it was 17 minutes flight time. Jeremy Cole reached up and flipped off several switches, and undid his seat belt. Above her, the rotors changed pitch as they slowed and it felt almost quiet in comparison.

She looked outside at the field, saturated in floodwater toward the lower end of it where it dipped down to a river that was overflowing its banks.

She felt her heart sink. Apart from the fact she was in West Virginia judging by the direction they'd headed away from Harrisonburg, she had no idea where she was.

###

Ressler thought he had died – again. He was floating in the dark, aware of pain in his torso and a loud sound in the distance. His mind was scrambled, clinging to thoughts and sounds.

_Is that a helicopter? There was a helicopter... wasn't there...? Yes...there was. I remember that now..._

_Did I get shot? I always get shot... I think I'm running out of places to get shot... _

_Maybe I didn't... I'm not sure about that part. No, wait... I got the gun... It's under me... I better not shoot myself..._

_I didn't get shot. Well I did though, but it hit my vest. Right...? Left, it was on the left..._

_I got the gun off the ground after...who? ...someone shot... Red shot Eric! Yes, I remember now. The kid was screaming and bleeding... I remember that..._

_Phil had my gun on Liz! No! She called my name as I... died? Liz! Liz might get shot! _

_You're my best friend Liz... Sorry Audrey... you are too... you were too... _

_Audrey... I miss you sweetie..._

_I don't think I'm dead... I've been here before... I really should be more careful... especially of falling trees... _

_So Red shot Eric... yes he did... I think... ET phone home... _

_And then... And then, I don't know what happened after that... _

_It's quiet now though... no helicopter... No screaming ET..._

_Am I dead...? No...Audrey's not here..._

_No...I don't think I am... _

_Am I...?_

###

Red stopped walking. Unclenching his fists, he turned away from Eric, realizing the kid was not his concern right now. He was actually angrier at himself for not keeping tabs on the distraught young man. He gave a final disgusted glance at the idiot kid running crazily down the road and walked back to Dembe.

"We are unable to use the radio." He told Dembe and didn't elaborate further. Dembe looked up at his boss and knew that look - and knew not to ask why.

"How's he doing?" he asked Dembe, kneeling down to Ressler again.

"He hasn't moved."

Red reached out and lifted one eyelid, seeing the pupil contract in the light. That was a good sign though. "Help me get his vest off so we can finally get a look at his ribs here."

Dembe moved the sling out of the way. Ressler's arm had come out of it as he'd lunged at Eric, and Dembe carefully moved his left arm to the side now. Moving Ressler's jacket out the way, he reached down and pulled up the Velcro holding the FBI vest in place. He pulled the vest off now, carefully removing it from under the unconscious agent. Red lifted up Ressler's t-shirt, and they both gasped.

"That is not good, Raymond." Dembe said to his boss.

Ressler's chest was almost one solid black and purple bruise, apart from the area below his right arm. Below his heart was the worst, where the ribs were broken. Ribs that had endured being shot, had a tree fall on them, been punched, almost gone over a cliff, and rolled on the ground. But that wasn't what was worrying Red the most. It was the dark red bruise on the upper left side of his abdomen below the broken ribs that concerned him. Red spots of blood covered the region indicating bleeding under the surface, radiating from the dark red bruise.

"No, that's not good at all." said Red, feeling gently around Ressler's upper abdomen, feeling how distended with blood it was becoming. "I'd say a broken rib pierced his spleen, judging by the position. I don't believe it's a large puncture or rupture though, or he'd have bled out fast and been dead yesterday. This has been a slow, steady bleed."

He looked at Ressler's ashen face now, and almost tenderly placed his hand on the agent's cool, sweaty forehead. "Donald, you must have been in agony, my friend..."

Dembe watched his boss tend to the agent. "We have a come a long way since Brussels." he said, and Red turned to face him.

"Yes we have. In a great many ways." He looked at Ressler again. The agent who had pursued him relentlessly for five years. The agent who had tried to kill him in Brussels. The agent whom he'd taken a great deal of pleasure in ribbing and making fun of relentlessly. The agent whose life he had saved once before, and would save again today, if possible. And was he doing it only because Lizzie cared for Donald? No, he was doing it because he, Raymond Reddington, was just that kind of man.

"What can we do for him?" asked Dembe and Red looked up at his companion, and then pointed to the dead medic's case. "Slide that over here for me, will you."

He pulled the bag closer to him as Dembe slid it over, reading the name of the flight paramedic engraved on the outside of the sturdy leather bag. 'David Klassen, FP-C' "David, I am very sorry you got caught up in this mess." He said, addressing the dead medic now.

He opened the case and looked inside. "Oh, excellent... this will do very nicely..." he said, mostly to himself as he perused the contents of the bag, "Donald, this is your lucky day."

###

"Get down." Phil told her, and motioned to the door of the helicopter. Liz did as she was told, standing on wet ground in a field at the back of a large farmhouse. A large, low shed lay across the field, filled with hay bales from the early summer mowing. She looked briefly around at her surroundings beyond the property for some sign of life. Low hills rose beyond the river at the lower end of the field. Trees that had previously lined the banks were now standing in the flooded, fast moving river. It didn't compare to the raging torrent at the bottom of the mountain, but it had a fair clip to it. She looked around to the other side now. There were no other homes or buildings in sight.

Jeremy jumped down from the pilot's seat, loosening the strap on his flight helmet before tossing it on the pilots' seat. He faced her. "It's nothing personal. You're just my insurance. If you don't give me any trouble, I'll do likewise."

Liz stared at him as the man's eyes looked calmly back at her. She looked away, and nodded.

"Where are we?" she asked Jeremy, but he ignored her. He motioned to the house. "Get inside."

As she walked to the house, with Jeremy in front and Phil behind her, she studied the house. It was an old farmhouse, built of brick, with ivy growing up one side. Like an English home, she suddenly thought. A barn sat to the right of the house, complete with horse runs and a large tack room. There were no horses in sight though. The farm had a quiet, almost deserted feel to it.

They reached the back door and Jeremy stepped in through the unlocked door, entering the large kitchen. Is the door unlocked because there is no one around, or because someone else is home, Liz wondered.

"Sit down." Phil told her from behind and she did as she was told, sitting at a large kitchen table.

Jeremy turned to face her. "I'm going to return the favor you gave me. Phil here will keep his gun on you. Actually, he will keep your partner's gun on you. Irony can be a bitch sometimes." He nodded to Phil and left the room, exiting through the back door again. She lost sight of him, and looked at the helicopter standing outside. They had needed that chopper, and there it was, sitting there and everyone else was still on the mountain. And Ressler... he was down and she... well, she couldn't help him anymore...

Phil was her only chance in this. Jeremy could never be reached, but Phil, maybe... she thought, and looked at the man. She was going to need to study him carefully and see where his weaknesses were.

You're a profiler Liz. So profile, she told herself.

###

Dembe sat inside the pickup truck, surveying the damage left by Eric. He had the keys from Red and was trying to get the key into the busted ignition switch. It was no good though. It was too damaged. They weren't going to be driving down the mountain and back to the cabin any time soon. And with the injured agent down, he thought, they couldn't walk it. Sure, he could sling the unconscious man over his shoulder, but not with the internal bleeding he had. Picking up the demolished radio, he turned it over in his hands. Without spare parts, it wasn't fixable. It had been rendered completely useless and he threw it aside. Looking in the rear view mirror, he saw his boss still kneeling down to the agent on the ground, working on him. His eyes moved around, and settled on the fire tower.

"There." he said out loud, and climbed out of the pickup truck, striding over to the tower. He felt a drop of water on his arm, and looked up at the cloudy sky. It had been overcast all morning, but was growing darker now as darker clouds built. Another large drop fell. It was starting to rain. He jogged to the tower now, looking at the glassed in area at the top. He wasn't sure they could get the injured agent up those stairs on the outside of the building. At the tower now, he walked quickly around the base of it and came to the door under the stairs. It was padlocked, but Dembe thought he could get through it. Large rocks lay on the ground several feet from the tower, left over from building the tower itself. He picked one up, aimed at the door, and with his best baseball throw he hurled the rock at the door, hitting the padlock dead center. The padlock itself held, but the catch it was on broke under the onslaught. As the padlock dropped to the ground, he allowed himself a satisfied smile. He still had it.

He jogged to open the door. Raindrops were getting more insistent now. It wasn't raining heavy, but there were more drops now. Hauling the door open, he looked inside, and smiled even more broadly.

"Raymond!" Dembe was jogging over to Red now, as a light wind started to buffet them and the rain increased.

Red looked up, in the process of closing up the medic's case after putting Ressler's vest inside. He had heard the crash of the rock hitting the padlock and seen immediately what Dembe was up to.

"Pick up his feet, I've got this end." he yelled across to Dembe, and the man bent down, threw the strap of the medic bag around his shoulders, and then held Ressler's legs. They lifted him, and together walked with the unconscious agent toward the tower. The rain was settling in now as the wind picked up. Red looked up, eying the clouds. The brief respite in the rain was over, and it was going to rain a while. As they approached the tower they gently laid Ressler down as Dembe opened the door again, then picked him up and took him inside. Red's eyes adjusted to the dimness, and then he chuckled.

The upper part of the fire tower was a simple observation room. A few benches lined the walls, and the round fire finder disk the lookout used to detect where smoke was coming from took center stage. Below the observation room was where the lookouts stayed. In the 20x20 foot space, there was a cot, a small couch, table and chairs, sink, small fridge and microwave, and above that, a loft with another 2 cots. A mini apartment of sorts, right out here in the middle of nowhere. Red doubted it had power, but it was shelter from the rain and would give them somewhere to hole up for the time being.

"Splendid," Red looked down at Ressler. "See Donald, I told you this was your lucky day," and together they placed him on the downstairs cot. The door was still open, letting in the light, but also letting in the rain now.

"We need some light in here." said Red, but Dembe was already on it. After trying the light switches unsuccessfully, and confirming there was no power, he found some hurricane lamps and a few candles in a cupboard. He lit a lamp and placed it near the cot, and as the soft glow filled the small room he went over and closed the door, sealing them inside the little safe house.

"We need to get his jacket and t-shirt off Dembe." Together they sat Ressler up, slipped his jacket off, and then pulled his t-shirt over his head. Supporting him, they looked at the welts and bruising on his back, as well as the swelling and bruising from his dislocated shoulder. Red shook his head, again, wondering how the man had stayed on his feet for so long. They lay him down and Red opened the medic case again. He knew what he needed to do.

David Klassen, the flight medic, had been a very prepared individual. And even in death, he was about to save a life. Red pulled out a blood pressure cuff, a bag of saline solution, a portable IV pump, and some tubing and IVs.

"What do you need me to do, Raymond?"

"I need somewhere to hang an IV." Dembe looked around the room, and then climbed the stairs to the loft. Upstairs he found a simple closet with a few coat hangers. Perfect, he thought, and bent one of them, wrapping one end around the railing, and making a hook at the other end. He went back down, took the bag from his boss, and hung it carefully on the hook. Red attached it to the portable IV pump to control the flow, then leaned down and took Ressler's blood pressure again. It was far too low - and there wasn't enough saline in the bag to give Donald the volume of fluid he needed to bring his blood pressure back up.

"Donald." Red was patting Ressler's cheeks now, trying to rouse him. "Donald, wake up." Ressler showed no sign of waking.

It would be so much easier if you had a gaping wound I could jam a thumb in to wake you Donald, Red mused.

He went back to setting up the IV, popping up a good vein in the back of Ressler's left hand. After sterilizing the area, he pushed the needle in - and got a slight reaction from Ressler as he moved his head a little. Good, thought Red, and continued. He withdrew the needle, leaving the thin plastic tubing in the vein and after taping it securely to Ressler's hand, he ran the tubing up to the IV pump and started the flow.

"Donald, I need you to wake up now." Red hit his cheek this time, rather than patting it.

Nothing.

He hit him again.

###

Ressler's mind was still confused due to the blood loss. As he floated in the dark, pretty sure he wasn't dead after all, thoughts and memories flooded his mind.

_It's so quiet here... no more helicopter... am I in the hospital...? again...? I don't like hospitals..._

_I didn't get shot though... well, I'm pretty sure I didn't... I don't know..._

_I'll just stay here... take a nap... I am so tired..._

_Oh, but Liz! I gotta help Liz! But I'm here... how do I help her...? _

_Liz kissed me... Sorry Audrey, she was just... just... yeah..._

_My shoulder hurts... did it get shot? Oh wait... Liev... pulled me over a cliff.. with his throat cut... wasn't it...? _

"Donald"

_Who's that...?_

"Donald, wake up."

_Is that Red...? No, Red's not here... I'm asleep..._

_Ow! Something on my hand there... a bee sting...? _

"Donald, I need you to wake up now."

_Someone's hitting me! It's Jeremy Cole! What the? No!_

Ressler's eyes flew open.

He shot up to a sitting position, his head swimming at the sudden movement. Instinctively he raised his arms to fend off whoever was hitting him, striking at the person nearest to him, crying out in pain as he moved his left arm. He landed a blow, and then another with his right fist, hearing the person grunt.

"Donald!"

Still lashing out in the semi dark as the room spun violently around him, he attempted to hit the person again, but a pair of strong hands encircled his wrists, holding him still.

"Donald! Stop!"

The hands holding his wrists stopped him from hitting out again, but the fight had gone out of him now as he fought the dizziness and nausea. He panted in pain as the room spun, as Dembe held his arms still.

"It's me. It's Red. Calm down."

Ressler closed his eyes and fell back down, jarring his shoulder and ribs. Gasping at the surge of pain across his torso, he nodded, panting in pain and dizziness. Of course, it was Red and Dembe. Not Jeremy Cole.

"Let go ... let go of me..." he gasped, looking up at Dembe now. Red nodded to the big man, and Dembe gently lay Ressler's arms down and let go of his wrists.

Ressler looked at Red, realizing the man's nose was bleeding from where he'd struck him. Well, he shouldn't have hit me, he reasoned.

"Where... where are we...?" he asked the criminal breathlessly, as the room slowly stopped spinning now that he was laying still.

"It's rather quaint isn't it?" Red said, looking around at the room, taking the cloth Dembe was handing him to stem the bleeding from his nose. "We're inside the fire tower, and I have to say, these fire lookout folks have this place set up remarkably well. Pity there's no power though."

We're still on the mountain, Ressler realized. "What... is this...? He asked, noticing the IV in his hand for the first time.

"Fluids to bring up your blood pressure. It will help with that dizziness you're feeling." answered Red.

Ressler sighed. Of course - Doctor Red just can't help himself. His memory was a little slow and foggy, but it finally caught up. "Liz!" he half sat and looked quickly around, ignoring the surge of dizziness, looking for her. "What happened to Liz?!"

Red gently pushed him back down on the cot. "Lay down. They took her Donald. They took her in the chopper with them - after they killed the pilot and the medic."

Ressler stared up at him, breathing hard. "We need to help her!" He cried, trying to get up again.

"Right now Donald, you are the one who needs help. We can't help Lizzie. But I can help you."

"No! I'll be fine!" he said, as Red gently pushed him back down again.

Red leaned down to him. "Listen to me. You have ruptured something inside. You are bleeding internally and have lost a lot of blood. We may not be in a glass box with your blood spilling all over my shoes, but Donald, this is just as serious."

His eyes searched the criminals as he leaned down to him. "Oh God, you're going to give me more of your blood." panted Ressler, and closed his eyes in exhaustion.

Red patted him on the cheek and chuckled. "Glad to see we're on the same page Donald."

###

Liz sat in the large kitchen, trying to engage Phil in conversation. He was having none of it, and standing by the window as he apparently watched something outside.

"What's out there that is so interesting...?" Liz finally asked him.

He ignored her.

"Okay, fine. But I really need to visit the ladies room." she told him, wanting to get some reaction out of him. He turned and motioned for her to exit the kitchen to the right and down the hall. As she rose, he followed her. She walked down the hallway, stopping at the door to the bathroom.

"You're not seriously coming in here with me?" she said, giving him an incredulous look.

"Um, no, of course not." he said, and she believed he actually blushed in the dim hallway. Good... very good. More information to file away on the profile of Phil Roberts.

She locked herself in the room, and looked through the small window, needing to stand on the toilet seat to do so. She was looking out to the right of the house toward the large barn and tack room. The tack room door was slightly ajar, revealing some of the interior of the room. What she saw in there made her catch her breath.

Rows of tables, chemicals, beakers and burners. A fully equipped lab, complete with computers on the back wall.

That was no tack room.

Her mind flew back to those briefings with Red on the Cole brothers. They had been going to release a 'weaponized virus of some sort.' It wasn't all a ruse after all. The Cole brothers really DID have a lab where they could produce such a weapon.

And she was looking right at it.

And they had unwittingly provided the means for Jeremy Cole to release the virus, in the Police helicopter parked in the field. She felt sick.

She saw movement as someone's shadow approached the open tack room door and quickly ducked down out of sight.

"You done in there?" called Phil, banging on the door.

"Yes, hold on!" she cried, and flushed the toilet. Her mind was reeling. How soon were they going to release the virus? Where were they going to release it? And what would they do with her when they did...?

She was sitting on a time bomb, and had no way to get word out to anyone.

###

An hour or so later, Ressler suddenly woke up. He didn't even remember falling asleep. That's getting to be a bad habit, he thought.

"We're still here, Donald." Red told him, not wanting the agent to lash out again.

"Yes, I can see that Red."

Red smiled. Ressler was feeling a little better if he was being snippy again. "Your IV of saline is done. But your blood pressure isn't where it needs to be. You're still bleeding slowly, and this is just a stop gap measure until you can get to a hospital."

"I don't like hospitals." They reminded him of Audrey walking into his room.

Red ignored the comment, and carried on with what he was doing. "I'm glad you're awake though, because now I get to give you more fluids." He undid a small plastic bag with an IV and tubing in it, laying it beside Ressler's IV in the back of his left hand.

"You mean blood. Your blood." said Ressler, resigned to the fact he wasn't going to stop Red doing this. And secretly, the fluids were already making him feel a little steadier. So hey, if Red's blood could help get him back on his feet, then bring it on, he thought.

"Hold still." said Red, concentrating as he attached the new tubing to the IV in Ressler's hand, then pressed the other end of the needle into his own left arm. Dembe reached over and taped it down for him, as Red sat back in the chair, the field transfusion tubing between them now. The blood started to flow from Red into Ressler.

Ressler looked up at the criminal. "What, no 'one more time' speech...?"

Red smiled, but ignored him. He was trying to work out how they were going to get out of here. And how they would track Lizzie.

Ressler settled back, quietly looking around the small room for a few minutes. He was also having the same thoughts as Red. How the hell were they going to get out of here and find Liz... "What's that sound...?" he finally asked.

"What sound...?" Red listened. "Oh that. It's raining again outside."

"Of course it is." Ressler sighed. He moved a little, lifting himself up to a half sitting position. He didn't feel nearly as dizzy as before. He had to hand it to Red. The man knew his stuff.

"Lay down Donald." said Red, and Ressler looked at him. He thought the criminal looked a little pale.

"I'm fine. You can stop now Red." he told him.

Red checked his blood pressure again. "No, your BP isn't where it needs to be." he said tiredly.

"Raymond. I think you have given Agent Ressler enough blood." Dembe leaned forward with concern and spoke to his boss.

"Just a bit more." Red replied, closing his eyes.

"No. We're done." Ressler reached up and ripped the IV out of his left hand, ignoring the bleeding. He reached over to do the same to Red, but Dembe beat him to it. He pulled the tubing from his bosses arm, holding some gauze over the bleeding.

Ressler sat up then, feeling much better. He stood slowly, feeling a little light headed, but kept upright. "Put him here." He told Dembe, and the black man pulled his boss up from the chair and lay him down on the cot.

"You didn't have to go that far, Red." Ressler chided him, trading places now and sitting on the chair. He watched Dembe place a band aid over the bleeding on Red's inner elbow.

"I'll be fine. My blood will replace itself much faster than yours will Donald. I have a working spleen."

"Yes, Doctor Red. Shut up and get some sleep." He told the man, letting Dembe place a band aid on the back of his left hand as he looked around. "And where the hell are my clothes?"

Red chuckled as drifted off to sleep. Mission accomplished. Donald was back on his feet - for now.


	10. Chapter 10 - Running Out of Time

Liz sat at the kitchen table again, watching the rain falling outside. It had started shortly after she'd seen the 'tack room', hitting the roof of the farmhouse with huge drops, before settling in to a steady downpour. She wondered if it was raining again up on the mountain. It was strange, but after two days up there, it now had a familiar feel to it, and felt more hospitable to her than this warm and dry farmhouse. But maybe it was more to do with the company up there than here.

Phil was looking out the window, in the same place she had seen him before. He'd been very quiet for a while. She began to realize he wasn't actually looking at anything. It appeared to be where he stood to think.

"Do you like watching the rain?" she asked him, not really expecting him to answer. "I love it," she added, trying to get him to respond. "Especially a good thunderstorm."

He wasn't buying it though, and kept looking out the window at the rain.

She decided on a different tack. "Is Eric your son?"

His head turned a little at that. Liz continued. "He seems about the right age to be your son, and I noticed he looks to you for guidance."

"You don't know anything about him." Phil replied, turning back to the window.

Liz knew his weakness now. She moved in. "I saw him running after the helicopter as it took off. He looked so desperate." She lowered her voice, and continued. "It was... heartbreaking... seeing him running after the helicopter. Running to catch up to you..." She was watching his shoulders as she spoke, and saw them tense up. She'd got him.

She didn't think he was going to say anything, and then he spun around and looked at her. "He's my nephew. My sister's boy. I've raised him since he was 9 after she decided he was too much trouble and left. She never even knew who his father was."

She looked at him silently, letting him talk, taking her cue from Ressler. The image of Ressler laying on the ground came to her again... don't think about him right now. Concentrate. She scolded herself inwardly.

"And yes. I saw him running to catch us... Catch me..." he stopped. Realizing he'd probably said too much to her, he turned and left the room, leaving her sitting alone in the kitchen. She heard the back door open and watched him walk in front of the window, heading in the direction of the tack room.

On her feet immediately, she ran to the back door and pulled against it. It was locked. Well of course he'd lock it, she thought. She ran for the bathroom again, locked the door behind her and stood on the toilet to look out the small window again. The door to the tack room was shut against the rain,. She couldn't see anything. Jumping down, she left the bathroom and ran down the hall, heading for the front door and yanked on the door handle. Damn. Locked from the outside also. She ran from room to room, looking quickly in them to get some bearings, before heading back to the kitchen and sitting in her chair again as she heard voices outside.

The sound of two men shouting.

She got up to look, and there were Jeremy and Phil, off to her right out in the rain. She could hear some of their words, while most of it was lost in the pounding rain hitting the window hard. She ran to the bedroom near the kitchen, getting closer to them, seeing them a few feet away in the rain.

Jeremy was yelling. "It's tomorrow morning! You know that!"

Phil yelled back at him. "You left him! So right after we're done tomorrow, we are going back to get him!"

"You know we can't do that Phil! We have minutes after and we're gone!"

Liz watched, seeing Phil shaking his fist at Jeremy. "Then fix it! We get him NOW!"

Jeremy laughed at him, waving his arm at the rain. "In this?! Are you crazy? I can't fly in this!"

Phil may have killed the pilot in cold blood 'because his boss told him to', but right now, seeing him fight for his nephew in the pouring rain, Liz almost cheered for the guy. You go Phil!

When he pulled a gun on Jeremy, she almost applauded.

"We are going to get him NOW!" yelled Phil, pointing the gun in Jeremy's face.

Jeremy stopped, and she saw the familiar calmness that seemed to overtake him whenever he had a gun in his face, oddly enough. The time he was at his most dangerous.

"You owe me! We almost drowned trying to get your sorry ass off that mountain! Not to mention the old man's boat that I lost!"

"Okay Phil. This is your show, so fine. We'll go get the kid." He turned toward the house and Liz stepped to the side out of sight.

"But when we're done with the job tomorrow, you and I are done too."

She didn't hear Phil's reply as she sprinted back to the kitchen. She had just sat down in her chair as the back door opened. Phil entered the kitchen and walked over to a drawer, rummaged around and finally found what he was looking for. He approached her and leaned down.

"No hard feelings. I have to do this though." Drawing her arms behind her, he tied her arms to the back of the chair with cable ties. She looked at him as he leaned down, fastening the second cable tie. She whispered to him, out of Jeremy's view.

"Where tomorrow?"

He looked at her, and looked at Jeremy, standing up now. "There, that should keep you secure. You won't be reporting to work tomorrow."

Had he just told her where? It would be Washington, DC? She looked at him silently.

He took one last look down at her, and he and Jeremy left the room.

###

Outside of the farmhouse, the two men climbed into the chopper. Phil sat in the passenger seat, still holding the gun on Jeremy and for now, Jeremy was going along with this. Placing his helmet on his head, he looked at Phil.

"I know you shot a pilot once in this seat. It really wouldn't pay you to shoot another one." And with that, he reached up and flipped several switches, the dashboard lighting up in front of them.

He started the rotors, and they rotated sluggishly at first as sheets of water fell from them. As they lightened up, they roared to life. Jeremy took another look at Phil with the gun on him, and shook his head. "This isn't going to work. Not in this weather."

"Just fly Jeremy. Get my boy back."

"I'm only doing this because you're right. You did almost drown trying to get me off the mountain." He turned his head from Phil then, and looked above him, flipping more switches. Looking ahead and shaking his head again, he pushed on the controls, lifting the chopper into the air. He hovered a moment, getting a feel for her in the rain, then pushed forward more on the throttle and headed out over the river at the bottom of the field. Turning, he headed back toward the highway, and after a couple of minutes they passed the airport to their left. He turned and flew over the foothills now, heading back toward the fire tower.

They flew in a straight line, and visibility was almost non existent in the rain. "This is suicide Phil. I can't see far enough in front of me."

"You know where you're going. It's a straight shot. Keep going."

He did know and kept his bearing, looking at his instruments constantly. The one good thing was that no one else would be idiot enough to be flying in this, so he was pretty well assured he wouldn't collide with any other air traffic.

The mountains were below them, as Phil kept straining his eyes to see in front of them. They should be seeing the fire tower soon.

"Is that it?!" Phil pointed and in the distance a faint shape rose out of the clouds.

"That's it. Hang on; it will be a bumpy landing in the winds on that peak."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth when the winds picked up around them. Jeremy held the controls tighter, guiding the chopper down now, the fire tower looming out of the rain in front of them.

As they approached the ground, the winds picked up, buffeting them. Phil hung onto his seat belt, keeping the gun in the other hand.

They dropped lower, and were almost on the ground when Phil gasped as he felt the chopper lurch to one side.

"Jer?!"

"Dammit, Phil! This is why you don't fly in a rainstorm with these sudden crosswinds!"

###

Ressler was standing inside the fire tower, starting to feel a little stir crazy. Sure the little building had been a God send, but they needed to be doing something. Not lounging around in a little home from home. He opened the door a crack to look outside, the rain hitting him in the face. He did it for two reasons - one because he wanted to see how bad the weather was - and two, because he just needed to see something apart from these four walls. It was bad out there. No thunder and lightning, but torrential rain was falling again. So much rain that he wondered how much higher the river had got. Phil's truck is probably long gone and swept away, he mused. Damn, they needed to get out of here.

"Donald, you really should be sitting down."

Ressler ignored Red. He was a little light headed, but certainly not falling down dizzy like he had been. Thanks to Red, he reluctantly acknowledged to himself.

He paced around the room - carefully - it wouldn't pay to prove Red right and fall flat on his face again. He was listening to the rain, when he heard something.

"What's that sound...?"

"Donald, I told you. It's the rain." said Red from the couch. He was doing much better and had just been resting - like Donald should be, he thought.

Dembe was upstairs laying on one of the cots. He sat up. "No Raymond. That is not the rain." He got up from the cot and climbed down the stairs from the loft.

Ressler was listening. He and Dembe said it simultaneously. "That's a helicopter!"

"In this weather?" Red stood up now as Ressler opened the door. He was followed out into the downpour by Dembe. They looked up, seeing a police helicopter coming in for a landing.

"Is it the same helicopter?" Ressler asked Dembe was looking up trying to see in the windows but the rain was too dense.

"I believe it is." Dembe said, trying to see the numbers on the side.

Red was standing beside them now, looking up into the chopper. "It is. That has to be Jeremy, and I believe that's Phil. Lizzie may or may not be with them."

They stood by the tower, completely drenched again. They felt a strong wind whip up from behind them, tugging at their wet clothes and making it hard to stand up.

A collective gasp went up as the helicopter suddenly lurched to one side as it approached the ground.

"No! Come on, come on..." Ressler willed them to land safely.

"Oh my God." said Red. They watched in horror as the chopper spun perilously, caught in the strong crosswind. They had no chance, and the chopper slammed into the sodden ground, pushed down by the strong winds. It hit hard, the skids and under carriage crumbling under it, the rotors striking the ground and breaking as the helicopter thudded to an abrupt stop.

Ressler was running before he even realized it. Red tried to grab his arm, but the agent was gone. Dembe followed, and the two sprinted toward the downed chopper in the pouring rain.

"Liz! Liz!" He didn't even realize he was calling her name. God no, she could be in there, was all Ressler could think. His chest screamed in pain as his vision swam, but he stayed the course and reached the chopper, his chest heaving.

Dembe was right there with him and climbed up the crumpled undercarriage, yanking hard on the door. It gave way, and he jumped in. Ressler climbed in more slowly, fighting the pain in his torso. He couldn't see Liz. He shone his small flashlight around, but the passenger area was empty. He heaved a sigh of relief - that was immediately replaced with desperation that they still didn't know where she was. He turned to Dembe who was in the small cab, lifting someone from the passenger seat. He dragged the man back and Ressler stepped aside to let him through. It was Phil. Blood was pouring from a gash on his head and he was out cold.

"Get him over to the tower!" Ressler told the man.

He nodded. "Jeremy Cole is trapped." He told Ressler, pointing to the pilot.

Dembe moved Phil toward the door and jumped down to get the man to the tower, as Ressler approached Jeremy in the cab.

He was definitely trapped. The nose of the chopper had crumpled on the pilot's side, trapping his lower body in the fuselage. Metal shards were embedded in his legs, and blood was everywhere. He was leaning back in his seat, trying to free himself when Ressler came beside him, leaning down and taking in the situation in an instant. Short of cutting his legs off, Jeremy Cole wasn't getting out of this. He looked back up at the man, and Jeremy turned his head to meet his eyes. Ressler didn't say a word. Both men knew he would eventually bleed to death in this chopper. Ressler reached up then and undid the man's flight helmet and took it off, leaning over to Jeremy so he could hear him over the pounding rain.

"You can die doing the right thing here or the wrong thing." He told the trapped man.

Jeremy just stared back at him with that calm expression.

"Tell us what your plan is. What is the weapon? What is the target? You're going to die. Make it right."

Jeremy shook his head, and smiled. He'd take that to his grave.

"Donald!" Ressler turned to see Red outside the front of the chopper. He was pointing urgently. He looked back to where he was pointing, but couldn't see anything.

"The fuel."

Ressler turned back to Jeremy as he spoke, and realized what he meant. The fuel was leaking. He could smell it now.

He quickly looked at console. If the radio still worked... He picked up the mic and pressed the button. "This is Special Agent Donald Ressler with the FBI, DC Field Office. Can anyone hear me?"

A voice came over the small speaker, barely audible in the rain. He picked up the flight helmet and threw it over his head. The voice was louder now. "...is a secure line. You said you're an FBI agent?"

"Yes, and I need to get a helicopter up to the Cole cabin above Harrisonburg, to land at the fire tower above it." Ressler spoke again.

"We sent a chopper up there this morning. Where is our pilot?"

Ressler ignored the comment about the pilot. "And that's what I'm in right now. This helicopter crash landed. Contact the FBI Headquarters in DC. Inform them there are Federal agents... there is a Federal agent up here. Give them my name - Donald Ressler. Ask for Aram." He didn't bother trying to give the man Aram's last name. They'd be there all day.

"We will contact them. But sir, we can't fly in this weather!"

"I know that!" Of course he knew that. The crashed helicopter he was standing in was clear evidence of that.

"Inform the FBI, and get someone up here as soon as you can."

"Donald! Get out of there!" Red yelled again from outside.

Ressler hung up the mic, tore the helmet off and turned back to Jeremy.

"You better make this fast. Do the right thing and tell me what the plan is. Let me stop it." Ressler looked into the man's eyes.

Dembe was clambering in the door again, "Agent Ressler. We need to go. The fuel will catch alight."

"In this rain? It can't possibly!" he called back to Dembe.

"Yes it can. I've seen jet fuel burn in rain like this." Jeremy said calmly.

Ressler turned back to Jeremy. Well, you're just full of good news, he thought.

"Agent Ressler. Now. We need to go." Dembe urged him again.

"Last chance Jeremy. Where is the target?" he leaned closer to Jeremy and the man met his gaze. "It's too late. You can't save them."

"Donald! Get the hell out of there! Dembe! Drag him out if you have to!"

"You can do something for me though." Jeremy told him, his eyes flickering down to the passenger floor, where the gun was.

Ressler followed the mans gaze, and saw what he was looking at. "I am not going to shoot you."

"Of course not. You're too much of a boy scout for that." Jeremy looked calmly at him.

At the words 'boy scout' Ressler's breath caught. He leaned into the man's face. "Where is she? Where did you take her?"

"Donald! For God's sake! The fuel is already burning!" And Red was right. Ressler could see black smoke in the rain.

He felt Dembe grab his right arm, but he quickly slipped out of his grasp, leaning down dizzily to the passenger side. He retrieved the gun. His own gun. He looked at it for a second, and then into the calm face of Jeremy Cole. The man who was never going to tell the FBI where his target was, or where Liz was being held.

"No, I'm not going to do that Cole." He told him, then slipped his gun in his holster, turned and left the trapped man sitting there.

He dropped from the chopper, seeing Red approach the pilot's window and toss something in through the broken glass as he did so.

They ran now, scrambling from the burning chopper. The smell of jet fuel was everywhere, and Ressler stole a glance back at the yellow flames snaking up from underneath the crumpled chopper.

"It can't burn in this." Ressler panted as they ran. "Not in this rain!"

"Yes. It can." said Dembe beside him.

They were still too close to the burning chopper when the ground spun violently and Ressler's legs gave out from under him. He fell hard to the soaked ground, panting. Damn! Not now!

Red stopped and yelled at him, pointing at the burning helicopter. "Move Donald! That thing is going to blow!"

Dammit, Red, I'm trying! He thought, willing his body to move.

From behind them, a single gunshot rang out.

"What the?" Ressler looked back at the chopper, then whipped his head back to Red, blinking hard at the sudden movement.

"I gave him a choice. I gave him his own weapon back."

Ressler stared at Red a moment, and then tried to get up again.

"Now move your ass, Agent Ressler!" Red was leaning in his face now.

Dembe was suddenly by his side and hauled him up by his right arm; producing a howl of pain from Ressler as the man half dragged him now.

From behind them a fireball erupted, flinging them to the ground with the shock wave. Ressler almost passed out from the pain as he slammed into the ground. The explosion filled the air as a ball of yellow and orange fire reached up into the sky.

Debris rained down on them, as the fire behind them was quickly being extinguished in the heavy downpour. Ressler groggily raised his head. He really hadn't thought it could burn like that in this rain.

###

An hour later, Red was still sitting by Phil after tending to his head injury, while Ressler sat on the couch watching the man. Good old Doctor Red, he thought. Give the man a medic kit and there was no stopping him. The room had stopped spinning, and while his ribs complained, he hauled himself to his feet. He stood a moment, letting the room right itself before he went to Red.

"How's he doing?"

"Well, he's lost quite a bit of blood and will have a massive headache, but for the most part he's not doing too badly. He's still unconscious, and I have no doubt he has a concussion."

"When can he talk to us?" Ressler leaned on the back of Red's chair as he asked the man. Right now the only use Phil was to him was that he knew where Liz was.

"When he comes to, Donald." He looked up at the unsteady agent. "And sit down before you fall down." He vacated the chair and Ressler fell into it. Red's hand reached for his forehead but Ressler moved his head out the way.

"Oh, just humor me Donald. Though I suggest you lay on the couch and rest. We're going to be here a while since nothing can fly in this."

Ressler was suddenly too tired to argue. With Red's help he stood up again and made his way back to the couch where he half lay on it. He closed his eyes against the dizziness, and promptly fell asleep. Red stood watching the agent worriedly, knowing it could be hours before anyone could get here.

Ressler was running out of time and needed a hospital very, very soon.

###

He was woken up by Red almost three hours later. He looked at the man, startled and saw that Red was smiling.

"Donald. Listen" He raised his eyes and looked up.

Ressler could hear it now. Another helicopter. Let the third time be the charm, he thought as Red helped him up. He grabbed for Red as he felt himself slipping. Damn, he hated feeling so weak and helpless. Dembe took over now and wedged himself under Ressler's right arm, keeping him on his feet.

Red went to Phil, who had woken momentarily an hour or so ago, before knocking out again. They'd got nothing out of him yet.

As Dembe and Ressler headed outside, the first thing they saw was the charred remains of the helicopter strewn over the ground. While it was still raining, the downpour had ended and it was just a light rain now. With the rain almost stopped and visibility much improved, Ressler noticed something else.

There were two bodies on the ground. Of course, he thought. The dead pilot and the dead medic. He hadn't given them a thought, yet they lay dead on the ground after getting caught up in this.

He looked up as the wind began to whip around them from the rotor blades, and saw it wasn't a police chopper this time. A dark blue helicopter was descending, with white letters of 'FBI' clearly emblazoned on the side.

Dembe looked at him and smiled as he supported him. "Score one for the FBI, Agent Ressler."

Well it took them long enough, thought Ressler, before turning his concentration to staying on his feet as the helicopter landed. As the rotor blades slowed, the door opened and a tall man jumped out, hunching down under the blades and headed for them.

It was Aram. "Agent Ressler! Are you... are you okay?" He looked worriedly at the pale agent.

"I'm just perfect." said Ressler. "What took you so long?"

"Well, we kinda knew where you guys were at." He looked around then, seeing Red near the fire tower, but not seeing Liz. "Whoa...what happened over there...?" He was now looking at the scorched helicopter in amazement.

"Aram." Ressler prompted him, feeling his fingers sliding off Dembe. Get on with it, for God's sake, he thought.

Aram drew his eyes off the burnt wreckage. "But then with the storm, we couldn't get in the air. We tried, but had to turn back. That was seriously scary..."

Ressler was seeing double now. "Aram." He prompted again.

"Oh right, yeah, so we came in two vehicles to come get you, and we made it, but then we got stopped at the river. You should see that thing! Wow! It's… "

Ressler interrupted him by falling to the ground.

"Um...Agent Ressler...?"

###

Ten minutes later, Ressler was safely stowed on the chopper, propped up in a seat. He'd have fallen off if his seat belt wasn't securing him. Phil was on a stretcher, after Aram and Dembe had brought him on board and secured him across three seats.

"Donald. You need to be lying down."

"I'm fine."

Red patted his ashen cheek. "Of course you are. You still need to lie down across these seats." When Ressler answered by ignoring Red and closing his eyes, Red sat beside the agent and buckled himself into the window seat.

"We need to go find Liz." said Ressler.

"Agent Ressler, we are taking you to the hospital." Answered Aram, before buckling himself into the passenger seat. He motioned to the pilot to start up the chopper.

"NO! The hospital can wait. We need to find Liz!"

Red was surprised at the tenacity of the agent. "Donald I know the direction they took her, but after that, we don't know how far they went or if they turned."

The pilot spoke up. "And we don't have enough fuel to go flying aimlessly looking. I have enough to get back to DC, with some in reserve."

"He knows where she is!" Ressler was pointing at Phil now. The man was out cold with the concussion and blood loss.

"And he can't tell us, Donald. As much as I want to find Lizzie too, we can't right now. And you need a hospital urgently."

"Damn it!" Ressler loosened his seat belt and fell to his knees, moving over to Phil to try and wake him.

Dembe was on his feet, dragging the agent back. "Let go of me! He knows where she is!" Ressler struggled against the man, but he wasn't strong enough anymore.

In the cockpit, the pilot was going through his startup procedure and the rotors began to turn. Aram turned to see Dembe dragging Agent Ressler back to his seat. He was deathly pale, thought Aram. The sooner they got the agent to a hospital, the better.

The chopper roared to life then, the rotors picking up speed. The pilot radioed that they were about to lift off, and then pushed the throttle forward. They rose into the air, the sound of the rotors deafening above them. They hovered, as the pilot got his final bearings.

"We need to find Liz!" cried Ressler against the roar.

Red was looking at Ressler, and then shook his head and looked out the window at the fire tower below them now. He spotted something then and leaned forward in his seat for a better look.

"Oh my God. No."

He turned back to Aram. Aram! We need to land! Now!"

The helicopter was ascending, beginning to turn from the mountain to head for DC.

"What?!" Mr Reddington, we have to get Agent Ressler to a hospital! My orders are to get all of you back to DC!" Aram yelled over to him as the chopper rose higher.

Red was looking out the window, then back to Aram. "I said LAND!"

Dembe was out of his seat looking at what Red had seen, and understood. Eric was running up the fire road below them, reaching up and screaming. He'd seen the FBI chopper arrive and had been running back up the mountain to try and catch them. Red watched him shrieking soundlessly as he fell to the ground now, reaching up to them as they rose up into the sky.

Abandoning him again.

"I am not leaving that kid behind again! Aram, LAND THIS CHOPPER!" He pulled the gun and aimed it right at Aram.

"Mr Reddington, that's really messed up!"

"Aram. Do as I say if you want to find Agent Keen and stop this attack."


	11. Chapter 11 - Was It Really Worth It?

Aram looked at the gun pointed at him and told himself there was NO way that was paper. He hesitated a moment longer, looked into Red's determined eyes, and then nodded to the pilot to land the helicopter.

"Good man." said Red, and lowered the gun as the helicopter descended, whipping up debris from the burned out wreckage of the Police helicopter. Red watched as Eric stood back near the tower, fairly calm once he realized the chopper was coming back for him. As the helicopter touched down and bounced a little, Red opened the door and called him over. Eric didn't move. Stepping out of the helicopter, Red walked toward Eric, who promptly started backing away.

"No! You're angry at me!" He could see the kid's face as he approached. Wide eyed as he remembered Red's former fury, he turned and started to jog down the fire road. Red stopped in frustration.

Inside the helicopter Dembe was watching through the door and jumped down to the soft ground and jogged up to his boss. "I will get him." he said, and loped off after Eric.

A fine misty rain filled the air, giving everything a clean and green look after the heavy downpour as Dembe ran after the kid, sidestepping rivers of rainwater still pouring down the road. He called out to Eric, and the kid turned and then stopped, recognizing his rescuer from the river. He walked back up the road toward Dembe.

"Mr Reddington wishes to ask you some questions and in return he will get you out of here." Dembe told the young man.

"No, he's scary!" cried Eric.

You don't know the half of it, thought Dembe. "He will not hurt you. You have my word. Come with me now." He took a step closer to Eric, and motioned back up toward the helicopter.

Eric looked into Dembe's dark eyes and nodded, then followed the big man quietly to the helicopter.

Inside the helicopter, Ressler couldn't stop shaking. It had started right after Red held the gun to Aram - something that hardly surprised him about the man anymore - and he realized he was shivering with cold. He watched silently as Dembe climbed back in the helicopter, pushing the kid in front of him. Eric sat down right beside Dembe - his new best friend apparently.

Red leaned over to Eric noticing him leaning into Dembe for protection as he did so. "Eric, I need your help. Where would Phil and Jeremy have gone when they left in the helicopter earlier?"

Eric didn't answer.

"Eric, I know the general direction, but I'm going to need you to tell me more, okay?"

Aram spoke up, looking worriedly at Ressler. "Mr Reddington, we have the kid. Now we need to head for D.C. and get Agent Ressler and the other gentleman to the hospital."

"No. Not yet... We need... to find... Liz..." said Ressler shakily, answering Aram, his eyes closed now. His brain felt funny, and he knew (even without Doctor Red telling him), that the blood loss was affecting him badly now.

Red turned to the shaking agent beside him. "Donald, this will help us find Lizzie. Eric should know where she is." He watched as Ressler nodded, then felt the man's forehead. He was cold and clammy. "And you need to be laying down here."

"I'm... fine..." shivered Ressler.

Dembe looked at Eric. "You will be helping the FBI agent over there if you tell Mr Reddington what we need to know."

"I'm not too good with directions though." said Eric.

The pilot turned to face them. "We don't have enough fuel to just fly aimlessly trying to find her, sir."

"I can give you a general direction." Red told the pilot.

"I need a destination. I'm telling you, I don't have enough reserve fuel to go far and make it back to D.C." Said the pilot, worriedly pointing to his fuel gauge.

Red sighed, and then leaned forward, pointing out the window. "Then fly in that direction, toward that notch between the two mountains on the horizon." Red told the pilot. "We'll give you a destination on the way. Won't we Eric?" He added, turning back to the young man.

The pilot shook his head in frustration, then leaned up and flipped some switches. The pitch of the rotors changed as they picked up speed, and the helicopter lifted off and hovered, before turning in the direction Red had pointed to as it rose into the mid afternoon sky. It was overcast, but patches of blue were breaking through the clouds in areas. Visibility was fairly good, and the light misty rain still fell but not enough to cause any problems with flying.

Red was listening to Ressler's labored breathing beside him, and turned to the agent. "Hang in there Donald. And look at the bright side - we're off the mountain at last." he told him, looking at him worriedly. Ressler only nodded to him in reply, before Red turned his attention back to Eric.

"Now Eric, tell me where Jeremy would have gone when he left you behind." said Red, deliberately reminding the kid Jeremy had left him.

"I don't care! He left me! Flew away and left me!" he shot at Red.

Red regarded him calmly. "Yes, he did. But WE came back for you." He looked out the window briefly, looking at the mountains and trees below as they kept on course.

Eric was thinking about that, the cogs turning in his mind, as Red turned back to him. "But if you can't tell me what I need to know, you're of no use whatsoever."

Ressler was listening to the exchange, almost leaning on Red with exhaustion. He'd heard those words before, in a glass box when he'd felt very similar to how he was feeling now. "Better listen to... him kid. He'll have... a gun to your head... next." He said, unable to stop shivering.

"Donald, you're not helping."

###

Liz was getting extremely frustrated at being tied to a kitchen chair. When she'd goaded Phil into heading back to the mountain, being left behind wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind. Her eyes scanned the kitchen for the closest drawer where she could find something to cut the cable ties that had her restrained. Pushing the chair slowly toward the cabinets, she spied the drawer behind her that Phil had been rummaging around in earlier. He'd left it open. She made her way over to it and peered inside and gasped at what she saw. A small handheld two way radio was inside. Had he left that deliberately...? But until she found some way to untie herself, she had no way to use the radio.

Leaning forward, she managed to stand, trapping her hands painfully as her wrists took the weight of the chair she was tied to. She grunted a little, making her way to another drawer. Leaning down, attempting to grab the drawer handle with her teeth was proving unsuccessful. Her wrists felt ready to snap under the weight, so she lowered the chair and clumsily sat down on it again. Blood rushed back into her hands, as she sat panting, looking for a different way. She looked back at the radio again. Maybe she could reach it with her hands, and hold it behind her.

Her mind set on the new task, she stood again, and maneuvered herself backward to the drawer. The chair was in the way though. Try as she might she couldn't reach into the drawer to retrieve the radio. But she could grasp the handle, and in one move she pulled the entire drawer out, depositing the contents all over the kitchen floor. Dragging the chair, she headed for the radio, but it had landed under the kitchen table. Stretching her leg out, she was unable to reach it while seated on the chair.

"Damn it! Just give me one break! That's all I ask!" she cried in frustration, still trying to reach the radio with her outstretched foot.

Okay, time for Plan M. Or was it Plan N by now? She stood again, and while ignoring the weight of the chair on her hands and wrists, kneeled down. Dropping to her side, she stifled a cry as she hit her head due to the weight of the chair. The chair pulled at her wrists now, cutting off the circulation, but she persevered. Scooting under the table while dragging the chair she clamped her teeth down on the short radio aerial, and smiled around it. Moving back with difficulty, pushing the chair with her as she went, she cleared the table and lay on the floor. She gently placed the radio on the floor, and looked at it. She couldn't operate it yet, but at least she had it.

She started to turn in a circle now, moving away from the radio and then approaching it with her back to it, her fingers reaching out. She couldn't feel the radio. She readjusted and moved back again and again, getting more and more worn out and frustrated at each attempt. She moved back again, feeling the radio with her fingertips. And in one final victory, she finally grasped the radio.

"Hah! Gotcha!" she said, allowing herself some satisfaction at that.

She closed her eyes, wondering who would hear her call, if anyone, and pressed the call button.

###

Ressler was sitting (leaning) with his eyes closed. He was concentrating hard and trying to keep awake, when he thought he heard something above the noise of the rotors. It was a voice. And it was a female voice.

His eyes flew open and he looked at up Red, startled to see he was practically leaning on the man's shoulder. "Liz. That's... Liz's voice!"

"You're hearing things Donald," Said Red kindly, knowing the agent was not thinking straight due to blood loss, "and you really, really need to lay down here." He looked at Ressler worriedly again, and then turned back to Eric. Ever the medic, Red had convinced the kid to let him treat and bandage his gunshot wound, and was working on regaining his trust while he did so. The wound was all dressed now, and he looked up at the kid and patted his shoulder.

"No. Listen! I think...it's a… radio." Ressler insisted. While convinced at what he'd heard, he also had this horrible feeling that his mind was completely losing it and playing tricks on him now.

And Red listened then, leaning over Ressler and toward Phil, and heard it. "That IS a radio!" Red pointed to Phil, and Dembe was up, already searching through Phil's pockets. In his front jeans pocket, he found a small handheld two way, and handed it to Red.

Red pressed the button, not knowing who else might hear him, but deciding to take that chance. "Lizzie. We can hear you. Where are you?"

Static.

And then..."Red! I'm in..." Then more static.

"Told you..." said Ressler, closing his eyes, thankful that he wasn't losing his mind completely yet, and concentrated on her voice. Red gave the agent a small smile.

Liz's voice was breaking up. "...teen minutes..."

"Lizzie, repeat." said Red.

"...eventeen minutes fli..." the voice broke up again, and more static sounded.

"She said... seventeen min... minutes." Said Ressler, trying not to shake. It hurt more when he shook. He opened his eyes and looked up at Red again. "How long have... have we been fly... flying...?"

Aram was listening and looked at his watch, calculating. He leaned back to Red and Ressler. "Twelve and a half minutes. We've been in the air twelve and a half minutes."

Red looked at him incredulously. "And you know that exactly?"

"What can I say? I like numbers." He shrugged, and nodded in confirmation. Red was looking at his watch. "Okay, then in four minutes we will be somewhere in the vicinity of her."

He looked out the window, seeing the end of the mountains in sight and a small town in the distance. There. She had to be in that town. But where? "Eric, look out there, tell me where Jeremy would go."

The young man looked out the window, but couldn't recognize anything from this angle. "I can't tell from up here. But it's a farm house. A big white farm house."

Red scanned the area, while Dembe looked out the other side, and Aram looked out the front. "There are a few over there." Said Aram, pointing now.

Red pressed the radio button again, asking Liz, but there was no answer, just more static.

"...iller. Hiller bar..." her voice came again, and Red looked at Dembe. "Miller farm."

"No, she... she said Hiller... Hiller barn..." said Ressler, concentrating only on her voice with his eyes closed.

"There!" Eric was looking, and his keen eyes spotted the barn with the name painted on below them. "But that's not our house."

"No, but we're on the right course." Red told him.

In the cockpit, the pilot was looking at his fuel gauge, and watched as an orange warning light came on the dashboard. "We need to head back! We are about to run out of reserve fuel!"

"NO!" Ressler called out, and Red echoed his sentiments. "No. Wait! We are almost there!"

The radio sounded again as Liz's voice came back. "...port, looks like an ex..." and then more static.

And then the radio went completely dead.

"Lizzie!" Red kept calling, but there was no answer.

"There is an airport in the shape of an X over there. That must be it!" said Aram, pointing off to the left. The pilot turned in that direction, as Red leaned down in front of Eric. "I need you to concentrate Eric. What does the farm house look like when you are standing in front of it?"

"It's white...with a brown roof." He said. They kept looking frantically, scanning the few farmhouses below them. They were all white with brown roofs. "What else Eric, something else. What do you see when you're looking at it?"

"Sir! We need to turn back now! I have no more reserve fuel!" The pilot called out, and began turning.

Red moved toward the pilot and looked him square in the face. "Shut the hell up. If we need to, you can refuel over there. It's an airport, in case you hadn't noticed." The pilot regarded him, and did as he was told and stayed on course.

Red moved back into the passenger area. "Eric. Think." Eric closed his eyes, imagining standing at the farm house. "The house has plants on it."

"Ivy? It has ivy growing on it?" asked Red, scanning the farm houses below then now as the pilot stayed on this new heading. "I dunno. Plants on the walls."

"There!" Aram spotted it in front of them. It was the only farmhouse he could see with ivy growing on it. He turned to the pilot. "Land right there behind that house." In his haste to turn back, the pilot had actually turned them in the direction they needed to go to see the farm house.

Red patted Eric's shoulder. "Well done Eric. Well done." The kid beamed. He didn't often get told that.

Dembe chuckled, and looked at the kid as he sat down beside him again.

###

Liz was almost in tears. She had been telling them about the airport, when she inadvertently pressed the wrong button on the unseen radio behind her, moving the channel. In her attempt to get back to the channel, she had dropped the radio, and spent a couple of anxious minutes repositioning herself to reach it again. She was still desperately pressing buttons, trying to find the channel she had been on when she heard something.

A helicopter. And it was getting louder as it approached.

She yelled out, knowing they couldn't hear her. "I'm here! Come on guys! I'm here!"

The chopper got louder and suddenly there it was, in full view of her through the kitchen window as she lay on the floor. A dark blue helicopter with the letters 'FBI' on its side.

"Yeah! The cavalry is here!" She didn't know if she was laughing or crying as they landed in the field. She had expected to see the Police helicopter returning, but not the FBI. The helicopter was out of her line of sight now as she lay on the floor, but it didn't matter. The FBI was here. She waited, listening to the rotors slowing.

"Lizzie!" She heard Red calling her name.

"I'm in here!" She cried at the top of her lungs. She heard running, then movement at the back door, then voices. "It's locked. Check Phil again for keys!"

She heard the sound of more running, and then saw Red at the window, cupping his hands to the glass. He saw her. They had the keys now, and the back door was opening. Red came in, followed by Dembe.

"Lizzie, are you hurt?" asked Red, leaning down to her.

"No, just trapped on this darn chair." Dembe was already behind her cutting the cable ties with his pocket knife, freeing her hands. As she got to her feet, Aram entered the room.

"Agent Keen! So glad to have found you. Now we need to get out of here." He looked at Red for confirmation. "Right...?"

"Wait, not yet." Liz told them, rubbing her bruised wrists as she headed for the back door. "Come with me!" They followed her outside, making their way around the right side of the house to the tack room. As they were about to enter, she suddenly stopped.

"Where is Ressler?" She turned and asked them.

"He's in the helicopter. He's...not doing so good Lizzie. We need to make this fast." Red told her quietly. As he looked toward the helicopter, he saw Eric jump down and come toward them.

Liz looked toward the chopper, hesitated, then turned back to the tack room. Her weapon drawn, she pulled the door open. There was no one inside as they filed in.

"Whoa..." said Aram, holstering his weapon as he looked at the lab in front of them. His attention was then drawn to the computers against the back wall. Like a magnet, they called to him and he walked over to them. He suddenly stopped, and turned back to Liz.

"Oh... I guess it's safe in here, right? No pesky viruses in those beakers?" He looked dubiously at the contents of the large table in the middle of the room.

Liz assured him she had seen them walking in and out of this room with no protective clothing. Red was leaning over the beakers, lifting them and looking at them, sniffing a few.

"Actually, I don't believe there ever was a 'pesky virus' here..." He looked around, opening drawers and cupboards. "In fact, there is nothing here that would suggest they have the ingredients to make anything toxic. Other than Koolaid perhaps. Whatever viral threat there may be, I believe it may be a decoy."

Eric was standing in the doorway, and Red motioned to him to come in.

"A decoy for what though...? Whatever they are planning, Phil said it was tomorrow morning." Liz told him.

"It is." Eric told her and they all turned to look at him. "I wasn't supposed to know, but I hear things, and I remember things..."

Red smiled, and motioned for Eric. "Come sit here. Tell me what things you remember." Eric came in, sitting down between Red and Dembe. "They said anarchy." He told them, and Liz looked up at Red.

"That does not sound good." She turned to Eric. "Is that the name of the airborne virus they will release? Where are they releasing it?"

"The Philadelphia hub," said Eric, "but I'm not sure where that is. But that's what I heard."

Aram sat at one of the computers, trying password after password, trying to access their system. "Eric, do you know what password they used?" Aram asked him.

"I told you. Anarchy is what they said."

Aram quickly typed it in. "No, that's not it... Wait..." He was furiously typing again, and finally got in. "It's not 'Anarchy', but 'Anarki' ...that's another great band name..." He was searching through the computer now, looking for information on it.

"I think the attack will be in D.C. though, from something Phil told me." said Liz. She was looking at Aram when she saw the lightbulb go off in his mind.

He looked up at her, open mouthed, then returned to typing furiously, opening file after file. "It's not a train station or airport. It's a hub... a computer hub... It's in Philadelphia, and..." He stopped, moving to another computer now and quickly logging in to that one, "and it's not an airborne virus. It's a computer virus! From the Philadelphia hub, it branches out to every major Federal building on the east coast!"

Liz looked at him, comprehension dawning now. "So it will be in D.C., but in other cities too."

"If this thing goes off, every Federal system will be down... anarchy will be right." Aram told them as he typed.

Liz approached him. "Aram, how long will this take?"

He drew his eyes from the screen. "Um, well it could take a while... I have to go through all these files, and find out their encryption, and their delivery method, and then there are the protocols and..."

Red interrupted him. "So, you're going to need to call for backup, and in the meantime, we need to get Donald and Phil out of here." Liz was nodding, reaching for where she normally kept her phone before quickly remembering it was still up on the mountain.

Aram looked up at Red. "Yes. Yes of course. You're absolutely right. I need the IT guys in here. Though of course, I'm an IT guy..." Aram grabbed his phone, and started dialing. "Right, yes. I'm on it."

"Lizzie," Red held her elbow and turned her away from the computer, "We need to go."

"Dembe! Stay with Aram. We never know who might show up while his nose is in that computer." The big man nodded to his boss, and stood guard at the door as they left.

"Eric, come with us." Liz told him, smiling at the young man and motioning for him to join them. As Liz watched him, the image of an obedient puppy came to mind as he followed them out toward the helicopter.

###

Ressler sat with his eyes closed, listening to the beat of his heart. It felt slow. WAY too slow. It was actually starting to scare him how slow it was beating. I might die right here... he thought. A voice, a memory came to mind... 'Is it really worth it, this job? Risking your life? They own you.' Nathaniel Wolff had asked him that at a small airport...on the day Sam had died... and as he sat in the helicopter, he contemplated those words. Was it really worth it? He'd been beaten up and shot numerous times. Almost died. Would have died - twice - if not for Raymond Reddington. But even worse than that, the job had cost him the only woman he had ever loved. All because of his job. And now he was bleeding out slowly but surely, all for the job. Was it really worth it...? He realized, painfully, that he really wasn't sure anymore.

He was still listening to his heartbeat, and feeling so cold that the shivering was hurting his back when he felt a soft, warm hand cup his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes, looking straight into Liz's worried face before him.

"Hey..." She said softly. "We're going to get you to the hospital, okay?" She was crouching down before him as his seat belt held him up in the seat.

He nodded, looking at her and then closed his eyes. Unbidden, a tear rolled down his cheek. He felt her wipe it away and now her arms were around him. He was cold. So cold, and she felt warm and soft. He dropped his head to her shoulder.

"Ress, you need to lay down, okay?" She told him, rubbing his neck. She felt him nod as he shivered in her arms. He was freezing cold. She turned to Eric.

"Eric, do me a favor. Run into the house and get me a big, warm blanket, okay?"

Eric nodded, and sprang from his seat, running to the house to do as he was asked. As he left, Liz got Ressler's seat belt off and with Red's help, they lay him across the seats, then strapped him back in safely.

"I've been trying to get him to lie down all day. You ask him once and he complies." Red smiled at her as Eric climbed back in the helicopter and handed them the blanket.

"Thank you Eric." She smiled at him, covering Ressler with the blanket and tucking it in around him.

Eric was looking at the vacant passenger seat beside the pilot. Red noticed, and told the young man he could sit there if he liked - as long as he didn't touch anything. Eric nodded and clambered excitedly into the seat.

Red leaned around to talk to the pilot. "Okay, now you can get us out of here. Which hospital are you taking us to?"

"Walter Reed. They are waiting for us. We should be there in 35-40 minutes." He reached up and began flipping switches ready for takeoff as Red went and sat across from Ressler, sitting beside Phil. He looked down at Phil. The man was still unconscious, but he was stable.

Liz sat beside Ressler, looking down at him worriedly. He was deathly pale and sweating. She looked up at Red, who met her eyes. "I know Lizzie. I know."

The rotors picked up speed, and then the helicopter rose into the late afternoon sky. Red looked down as they climbed, seeing Dembe step out of the tack room to watch them leave. He returned his gaze back to Lizzie, watching her leaning over Ressler as she stroked his cheek now. They really don't see it... he thought. Or maybe they do see it, but they can't do anything about it...

As they turned and headed in the direction of D.C., Red looked at the sky. Rain clouds were building on the horizon in the direction they were heading. The last thing they needed was to be caught in bad weather. MORE bad weather, he corrected himself.

###

They had been in the air for 20 minutes, when the rain clouds that Red had seen as they took off started gathering around them. Light rain started to fall. Nothing major, but still, Red didn't like it. He turned to the pilot. "How long?"

"Well, if the wind picks up, it will slow us down a few minutes. Maybe 20-25 minutes now." The pilot told him worriedly.

Red turned back to Ressler and leaned over him, checking his pulse in his carotid artery. It was so slow. He counted on his watch. Ressler's heart rate was 28. His heart was barely beating once every 2 seconds, yet amazingly, the man was still conscious. He patted Ressler's cheek, noting how long it took him to slowly open his eyes.

"Stay with us Donald. We'll get you there, okay?" Ressler didn't reply and simply closed his eyes again, unable to keep them open any longer.

Red reached for the medic's kit stowed under the seat, and pulled it out. Sitting down, he looked through the contents. He knew what he needed and had seen it in the kit all along. The kit's former owner David Klassen was very likely going to help save a life again.

"Lizzie," he leaned over to her now, "keep your fingers on his pulse... just lightly... don't press, just keep feeling for his pulse." Liz looked at him in fear, and then nodded, moving her hand gently to Ressler's neck. She felt his slow pulse now, and kept her fingers resting there. She didn't want to ask why Red was telling her to do this. She knew why. And it scared the hell out of her.

Ressler half heard their conversation, as if he were in the bottom of a barrel and they were looking down into it. He didn't want to open his eyes anymore. All that did was reinforce the feeling that he was fading. Blackness was at the edge of his vision. He didn't want to see that again. He half felt Liz's fingers slide to his neck and he knew why too. She's waiting to see if my heart keeps beating. Waiting to feel... when I die...

"Damn."

Red turned quickly to the pilot. "What's wrong?"

"Lightning, off in the distance there." Said the pilot.

"I saw it too." Said Eric from beside him. "It looks like it's getting bad out there."

Red followed the young man's gaze. He was right. He looked at his watch again. 15, maybe 20 minutes to Walter Reed.

Ressler felt his heart rate slowing and it was getting harder to breathe now. The good news was he no longer felt cold, so his shivering had stopped. He was barely aware of Liz's hand on his neck, but knew she was still with him. If I have to die, maybe this isn't so bad, he thought. The blackness was coming up now and he couldn't fight it anymore as it consumed him. He dropped down, falling again into that all too familiar black void of random thoughts and feelings. His former inward discussion came to mind. Was it really worth it? Yes it was... Liz made it worth it. The last thing he heard was her crying out...

"Red!" Liz cried out to him and he whipped around, knowing why she sounded so afraid. "I can barely feel his pulse!"

Red was at her side now, pulling the medic kit over and reaching for the stethoscope. He grabbed it, placed it in his ears and listened to Ressler's chest. His heart was painfully slow. He was still listening to it beating, when it slowed even further.

And was still listening, when Ressler's heart stopped.

"Lizzie! Get his chest uncovered!" Liz pulled the blanket off, then moved his jacket to the side and lifted his t-shirt, seeing Ressler's horribly bruised chest for the first time.

Red grabbed a black bag attached to a face mask from the medic kit. He turned back to Liz. "We need to bag him." He placed the mask over Ressler's unresponsive mouth and nose. "Squeeze this every 2 seconds, and keep it sealed tight on his face."

Liz nodded frantically, wiping away tears as she held the bag to Ressler's face. "Keep squeezing the bag Lizzie! You're breathing for him!"

Red placed his hands in the middle of Ressler's chest and began chest compressions. Aware of Ressler's broken ribs and the damage this could do, he had no choice if he was to keep the man alive. He pushed down hard again on the man's chest.

The pilot, aware of what was happening, looked at his watch. Still 15 minutes to Walter Reed. He picked up the radio. "Walter Reed, this is FBI Helo 470. We have an agent on board in cardiac arrest. We are en route with an ETA of approximately 15 minutes. Please advise!" He looked out at the rain that was falling heavily now, obstructing his view. After what seemed like an eternity, the voice came back.

"FBI Helo 470, adjust heading to 210, and turn back. We are alerting Inova Fairfax to expect incoming. That's heading two one zero. ETA approximately 7 minutes from your position."

In the cockpit, Eric was leaning back and watching them, crying for the 'dead' FBI man. He had a flight helmet on, and was listening to the pilot's radio call.

Red felt the helicopter bank as he kept pressing down on Ressler's chest. He had to trust that the pilot knew what he was doing and was getting Ressler to a closer hospital. In confirmation, he heard Eric call out. "We're going to a different hospital!"

"Ress! No!" Liz called his name as she kept squeezing the bag, leaning close to his face. He wasn't responding.

She looked helplessly up. "Red!" The helicopter shuddered in a sudden pocket of turbulence, and she grabbed at the bag to keep it sealed on Ressler's face.

"Don't stop Lizzie!"

Her vision obliterated by tears, she kept squeezing the bag, seeing Ressler's limp body jump at every chest compression Red was doing.

"Come on Donald. Don't do this." Red pushed down hard on his chest, forcing his heart to contract with each compression. He glanced up at Liz, and nodded in encouragement. "Keep going Lizzie!"

"Inova Fairfax, this is FBI Helo 470, do you read me?" The pilot spoke into his mic, glancing back at the effort to resuscitate the agent.

"FBI Helo 470, this is Inova Fairfax. We hear you and are standing by. We will light a flare on the helipad." Rain was pouring hard outside, striking the windshield now.

"Inova Fairfax, roger that. ETA approximately 4 minutes." He turned then and spoke to Eric. "Kid, I need your eyes. Help me locate the hospital in this rain. Look for the flare, okay?" Eric nodded, wiping his tears away and turning back to the front.

Red leaned close to Ressler, having heard the conversation from the cockpit. "You are not going to die today, do you hear me Donald?"

"Don't you dare! Don't you die on me!" Liz begged him, squeezing the bag and filling his lungs with air, as her tears dripped onto his face. "Don't you die on me!"

Red was still talking to Ressler as he continued chest compressions. "Fight Donald! Show me that tenacious Special Agent Ressler who pursued me for years. Do you hear me?! FIGHT!"

Ressler did hear Red. In the black pit, that was deeper than previous visits to this dark place, he heard Red. But he also heard Liz. And while he did indeed want to prove to the man that he was still capable of keeping up with him, it was Liz he listened to. And because it really was worth it - because she was worth it - he fought back. With an effort, he stood in the black void and started walking unsteadily in the darkness. Walking toward the speck of light in the distance. Walking toward Liz.

Red was pressing down on Ressler's chest, listening to Liz sob beside him, when he felt a change. He stopped, quickly placed the stethoscope on his chest and listened.

There was a heart beat. And then another.

He held his hand out to Liz, touching her arm. "Stop..." She stopped squeezing the bag, terrified Ressler had died, when through her tears she saw Ressler's chest begin to slowly rise.

He was breathing.

She removed the bag from Ressler's face now, and leaned down to him, stroking his cheeks. Once again, she didn't know if she was laughing or crying.

Red was still listening to Ressler's heart. It was picking up a little though still painfully slow - but he was alive. He smiled at Liz. "He's a fighter. No doubt about it."

Liz nodded, tears streaming down her face, smiling in relief as she stroked Ressler's cheeks.

"There's the flare!" Eric called out to the pilot. He turned in the direction the kid was pointing, and there it was, a tiny red lifeline, burning in the pouring rain. The pilot adjusted course, and touched down on the helipad a minute later. Before the rotors had barely slowed the door was being pulled open.

Liz and Red moved aside as medics piled in, quickly assessing Ressler before the crash team took him, placing his limp body on their waiting gurney. Red was explaining to them about his broken ribs and spleen as they secured him, before they rushed off with him.

Ressler, drifting in the dark in his unconscious mind recognized the moment that Liz was no longer with him, holding his face in her warm hands. But that was okay. He was going to keep fighting.

Liz stepped out of the helicopter and stood by herself. It was all moving so quickly. She felt helpless as they took Ressler away, the team running into the building as they rushed him to a waiting OR. She knew he was in the best place he could be, but she hadn't wanted to let him go.

Another team arrived and loaded Phil onto their gurney, taking him inside at a more sedate pace, she noticed. She stood in the pouring rain, something that almost felt safe and familiar now after this long, wet weekend. The rain hid her tears. Red was suddenly beside her, putting his arms around her and holding her close.

"He's going to be okay Lizzie."

And she knew that. She just didn't know why she couldn't stop crying.

###

It was dark as Liz stood looking out the hospital window watching the rain. Behind her, Ressler lay sleeping following his surgery, while Red dozed in the recliner.

Red had been right - as usual. Ressler was okay and had come through surgery, having had his pierced spleen repaired. He was weak, but stable. She turned from the window and looked at his monitors, seeing his heart beating at a healthy 67bpm, still receiving blood and fluids through his IVs. He looked peaceful as he slept, his tousled hair so unlike his usual look. His three day growth still in need of a shave on a face that had much more color in it now. She had seen him looking like that once before after Anslo Garrick, and for a moment she had to remind herself that he didn't have a gaping hole on his left thigh.

He moved his head a little, and she went to his bedside. He was waking up, his heart rate spiking a little on the monitor as he opened his eyes. He wondered for a moment where he was, before realizing he was in the hospital. He didn't like hospitals.

"You're okay... we got you to the hospital in time..." She told him, leaning down to him.

He tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry. She gave him a sip of water from his cup and he looked around, seeing Red on the recliner. Liz followed his gaze.

"Yeah, I guess with Dembe still with the team at the farm house, he doesn't have a driver to take him anywhere." She smiled softly, and Ressler nodded a little in agreement.

"...Phil...?" he asked, his voice raspy and dry. He'd watched the guy almost sleep through their entire day, and wondered how he was doing.

"He's fine. He's across the hall. Eric is with him in his room." she told him, nodding toward the door.

He nodded, and looked at the water again. She held the straw to his mouth as he took another sip.

"Are you in pain?" She asked him gently, and he shook his head a little. He would be soon, he knew that, but not right now.

She quietly pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down as he rolled his head to the side to look at her. "You know, I have to say, you certainly know how to show a girl a good time. A picnic, two nights on a mountain, and a scenic flight at the end." She smiled at him.

"...least I... could do..." he whispered.

"That was a crazy three days..." she said, then smiled, "I guess the squirrels were right." she added, remembering the store keeper telling them about the approaching storm.

Ressler managed a smile at that. "...wasn't all bad..." he whispered, as she leaned forward to hear him. He was remembering something else too, as his shoulder was being reset.

"...did we...stop it...?" He asked her.

"The attack. Yeah, good old Aram did it again. He was in his element, surrounded by computers with a deadline to meet."

"...kay..."

She smiled at him again, seeing his sleepy eyes about to close. "We did it Ress... you sleep now...get some rest, and I'll stay right here..."

In the recliner behind them, Red smiled, listening to their conversation while they thought he slept. They do see it, he thought.

Ressler closed his eyes, feeling her holding his hand now. "...was...worth...it..." he whispered as he drifted off to sleep.

- The End -

* * *

_Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed my story - I had a blast writing it! And yeah, I didn't really want it to end either, but every story has a beginning and end, and I'd told the story. So time to leave them now :-) Thank you SO much for all the reviews - they meant a lot and kept me going! Thanks! :-)_

_I hope you didn't mind how much I had Ressler suffer! I just can't help myself when it comes to putting him through the wringer, because he suffers SO beautifully and looks so darned gorgeous while at it! _

(PS - My medic's name "David Klassen"is a shout out to Diego Klattenhoff - I wanted it like his name without it being obvious :-)


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